A boy named Flat Stanley wanted to learn more about the history of his country, the United States of America, and how it came to be. He knew that America sought out independence from Britain, but he didn't know why.

At school, Flat Stanley met with his history teacher to try and explain what led to the American Revolution. Surprisingly, his history teacher had a time capsule of everything that happened leading up to the Revolution.

Here you go Flat Stanley, make sure to take good care of it!

Thank you!

This is exactly what Flat Stanley wanted. The information was endless, and he was so excited to learn about the Revolution. He imagined himself in that time period and made his way through the events that had taken place.

There was tension in the air as the British passed another tax policy called the Townshend Act. The Act was proposed by a man named Charles Townshend and put taxes on goods such as glass, lead, paper, paint, and tea (Class Notes).

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The purpose of this act was to uphold the British authority over the colonies while also making some profit (ushistory.org).

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Townshend also proposed a new job which would be the American Board of Customs Commissioners. This group enforced tax policies and they made their own profits if they caught American smugglers who were brought to court and convicted (ushistory.org).

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The colonists were outraged by this taxation which is why they boycotted goods that were taxed and terrorized tax collectors (Class Notes).

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Tensions continued to rise and more British troops were being sent over to enforce strict tax laws on the Americans. Flat Stanley couldn't help but watch the history unfold.

On March 5, 1770 a group of protesters in Boston were getting out of hand at the Customs House on King Street. Rocks and snowballs were being thrown at the British guards (online.infobase.com).

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A defensive line of British guards started and one colonist made a run for a soldier and a shot was fired. This caused an all out riot which quickly became more and more violent. Five colonists were dead after this night (online.infobase.com).

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Thomas Preston, head of the British guards that night, was present during this attack and said that the protesters instigated the riot.

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Flat Stanley decides to have a conversation with Thomas Preston to see what his account of that night was.

“the unhappy affair took place without any loading in their pieces [muskets]; nor did I ever give orders for loading them. The mob still increased and were more outrageous, striking their clubs" (history.org).

And what happened next?

"I was between the soldiers and the mob, parlaying with and endeavoring all in my power to persuade them to retire peacefully, but to no purpose" (history.org

Thomas Preston said that he was not responsible for the 5 colonists that died on that night.

This event caused a lot of backlash since innocent colonists were killed and many people thought the British were to blame.

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On December 17, 1773 at Boston Harbor, 150 men dressed as Indians dumped 342 chests of tea into the Harbor (academic.eb.com).

The Americans were protesting against the taxes Britain had enforced on the Americans, but specifically the Tea Act. The Tea Act was a monopoly on tea where American colonists were only allowed to get tea by the British’s East India Tea Company. (academic.eb.com).