Powder Alarm

[Reverenddel]

http://totallyhistory.com/powder-alarm/

Powder Alarm

Old Powder House
Photo by: Antigravityece Creative Commons After the Boston Tea Party and several other acts against the British Empire, the Parliament went to more radical measures in order to contain the series of attacks. A number of attempts known as the Intolerable Acts were formed by the Parliament in order to address the growing uprisings. One act provisioned the empowerment of the provincial governors that were royally appointed. On September 1, 1774, a certain royal general named Thomas Gage, an appointed governor of Massachusetts, sought to create one of the most significant events in American history: the Powder Alarm.

In 1772, the colonists in America formed the Committees of Correspondence in response against British unfair actions. As a result, a series of attempts by the British Empire to extinguish the incompliance of the American colonists diminished. With the burning of the Gaspée and the Boston Tea Party, many British officials felt the sense that insurrection would continue to grow if left unchecked. At the time, it was not illegal for the colonists to stockpile supplies like gunpowder, and it wasn’t also an actual sign of a militia coming to arms.


Precaution

Yet, a concerned Thomas Gage planned to prevent and cripple the attempts of the American colonists by secretly seeking out and removing military supplies from storehouses in the colonies, especially in Boston due to the fresh occurrence of the Boston Tea Party. Gage tried to acquire information from William Brattle, an actual head of the provincial militia. William Brattle in response gave a letter to Gage indicating that the powder at the province’s storehouse was the only place that contained a supply of gunpowder out of all the towns in Boston. That was when Gage decided to claim the remaining supply.

On August 31, David Phips was appointed by Thomas Gage was given the order to have the provincial powder removed. Brattle had initially handed the key of the storehouse over to Phips. On September 1, 1774, a troop of 260 regulars from the 4th regimen rowed along the Mystic River in order to reach the Powder House, the storehouse that contained the gunpowder stocks. Phips had given the key to the commander of the battalion, George Maddison, in order to unlock the door to the storehouse and to remove the gunpowder from the place.


Rumors

What was the significance of this event? Rumors spread across the colonies about the secret event. Many locals knew of the acts of the British forces to remove the gunpowder stores even though an apparent military action was not planned to begin with. And to add to the matter, some rumors began spreading about the death of at least six people during the course of the storehouse raids of the British forces.

The widespread fear had reached and shocked a huge number of colonists from around the states as far as Connecticut. The colonists feared that an impending war was about to begin, and that the British armies were doing what they could to decrease their efforts. This “Powder Alarm,” even with the exaggeration of the rumors that had spread, was actually an important factor that helped inspire the American colonists to start the American Revolution.
****************************************************************************************************
Anyone see a CORRELATION!?!?!?

[FiremanBob]

Yes. There were two other major arms confiscation efforts before 4/19/75 by Gen. Gage, one in Portsmouth, NH and one in Salem, MA. The spreading of the news was not "rumors", it was factual reports sent by express riders who constituted the lines of communication among the several Committees of Correspondence and colonial legislatures. Paul Revere had a major role in the creation of that communications network.

Read "Paul Revere's Ride" by David Hackett-Fischer for the full explanation of the cause of the Revolutionary War. Or come to an Appleseed clinic, where we teach the history of the Battle of Lexington and Concord while you improve your marksmanship.

Forced disarmament was the strategic mistake by the British that sparked the war. That's why I don't think the Zero administration will use that tactic, but will apply several strategies as I outlined in my other thread.

If you got a text or a call saying that the ATF had an assault team trying to shut down your LGS, or going house-to-house in your neighborhood using a database of Form 4473s to identify firearms owners, would you go to defend it?

[misawa]

Read "Paul Revere's Ride" by David Hackett-Fischer for the full explanation of the cause of the Revolutionary War. Or come to an Appleseed clinic, where we teach the history of the Battle of Lexington and Concord while you improve your marksmanship.

[jdonovan]

went to appleseed's web site, clicked on VA events.... nothing listed.

[FiremanBob]

I'll post here when the VA schedule is published. Many of the hosting venues finalize their schedules during January and dates aren't published until the commitments are certain.

I think there were at least eight clinics in 2012, and hope there will be at least as many this year.

[rlbellco72]

Here's another account of British gun control.

http://www.davekopel.org/2A/LawRev/amer ... ntrol.html

[GeneFrenkle]

Meanwhile, during WW II, England asked American Citizens for arms. It was in an American Rifleman. Here's some more http://www.twinbuttebunch.org/index.php ... c.sendguns

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Reverenddel]

My thoughts were this:

Gun Owners as a whole in the 1980's didn't believe they'd ever ban firearms, or magazines.

In the 1990's it happened.

After it failed to renew in 2004, they tried again using "9/11" as an excuse.

Now they try again, using "For the Children" as a reason.

Have they not polled the face of "NEW GUN OWNERS"? They're not hunters, they're not collectors of Parker-Hale double barrels, these are the children who grew up with the "thumbhole" stocks, plain barrels, and 10 round magazines, but were force fed a steady diet of video games, and action movies.

They don't own "collectibles" as much as "collect the movie/video game guns" they grew up seeing on screens. They're acerbic, and cynical. Most don't trust the guv'mint. Almost all think they were "lied" to about the "American Dream".

Quite a few are in their 30's-40's, living at home with their parents (either thru divorce, layoffs, or necessity), single, with a slightly disposable income. NOT JUST WHITE GUYS EITHER! There are women, different races, different subcultures, different religions, these folks have NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING to lose by going full steam political on this government.

Then, if Obama is successful...you make them OUTLAWS?!?!? Is the government CRAZY!?!?

Remove a person's fear of death, their chance of survival, all hope of a peaceful life, and you have an unstoppable guerrilla fighter. Ask the Vietnamese, the Afghan's, and the people in Colonial Virginia in 1776... I'm not writing threats. I'm just looking at the history of rebellion, and we're RIPE for one!

[Vigo]

Yes. There were two other major arms confiscation efforts before 4/19/75 by Gen. Gage, one in Portsmouth, NH and one in Salem, MA. The spreading of the news was not "rumors", it was factual reports sent by express riders who constituted the lines of communication among the several Committees of Correspondence and colonial legislatures. Paul Revere had a major role in the creation of that communications network.

Read "Paul Revere's Ride" by David Hackett-Fischer for the full explanation of the cause of the Revolutionary War...

Excellent pick- I recommend that book for everyone interested in that period. I also would add Hackett-Fischer's "Washington's Crossing" and David McCullough's "1776" as companions to frame "Paul Revere's Ride". All three of the books are of only moderate length, and both authors write in a really nice style.

The powder alarms prior to Lexington and Concord are often forgotten incidents that some view as the start of the revolution as a direct conflict, choosing to date the matter to before the battles of 1775.

[gunderwood]

Meanwhile, during WW II, England asked American Citizens for arms. It was in an American Rifleman. Here's some more http://www.twinbuttebunch.org/index.php ... c.sendguns

As I understand it, they could actually use a few right now.