March 1774

In March, I added to our slide show for the meeting the following slide:

It was perfect for Women's History month.  Sybil Ludington was the female Paul Revere.

A DAR member posted more information about Sybil and her ride on the WVDAR site.  The story is not exactly the same, but close.

In U.S. history, we remember that famous ride that would warn the colonies that the British were coming.

The Colonel needed someone he could trust, someone brave enough, someone who could ride a long distance, through the darkness, from 9 p.m. to dawn, someone who could fight off enemy combatants, to alert the Colonial militia to the approach of British forces.

So, the Colonel chose the "best man for the job." He chose Sybil Ludington, his 16-year-old daughter. Sybil Ludington was born on this day, April 5, 1761.

This month, on April 26, 1777, her father asked his young daughter to take the dangerous ride.

On the night of April 18, 1775. Revere made his famous ride and history remembers him well, because of the famous poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who would tell the tale, saying:

"Listen my children and you shall hear

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere . . ."

But, many people do not know about the four other riders, who warned their communities of the approach and movement of the British forces.

The five heroes (including Paul Revere) were Samuel Prescott, Israel Bissell, William Dawes, and, the one who I am dedicating this post to, Sybil Ludington, who at that time was only 16 years old.

On the night of April 26, 1777, Colonel Henry Ludington chose his daughter to take that famous ride in history.

Sybil set out at 9 p.m. that night in the rain to warn the colonists at Danbury, Connecticut of the approach of the British. She would make a journey double to that of Revere (totaling 40 miles), riding through Kent to Farmers Mills and then returning back home again.

During her famous ride, she gathered her father's troops, knocked on doors and warned the countryside of the British troops’ incoming attack - and, she fought off a highwayman with a long stick.

By dawn, she was exhausted, damp from the rain, but had accomplished her mission warning the colonists and bringing together 400 soldiers ready to march and drive the enemy troops from the area.

She would later be commended by George Washington for her heroism. Each April since 1979, the Sybil Ludington 50-kilometer footrace has been held in Carmel, New York. The course of this hilly road race approximates Sybil's historic ride, and finishes near the statue which was erected in her honor on the shore of Lake Gleneida, Carmel, New York.

So, when you hear the tale of Paul Revere this month, remember about the other riders, one of which was the courageous Sybil Ludington.

So, December 2023 we celebrated the 250th birthday of the Boston Tea Party.  And then the next two months we talked about the fact that news traveled very slowly.  The news of the dumping of the tea into the Boston Harbour would have to travel back to Great Britain my ship.  Then Parliament would act on the news.  And then the news would travel back to our shores via ship again.  So the actions were very quiet in the early months of 1774.  However, the Colonies were NOT quiet.  All 13 colonies were abuzz with the news of the audacious act that had taken place in Boston! 

In March 1774 the news had reached Great Britain and Parliament acted! 

The Boston Port Act was introduced to the House of Commons by Lord North on March 18, 1774. A week later, on March 25, the bill was sent to the House of Lords where it was approved. It was given Royal Assent by King George III on March 31, 1774, and went into effect on June 1, 1774.

 This was the first of the so-called "coercive" or "intolerable" acts.  The news reached Virginia mid May. This act Helped Unify the Thirteen Colonies in anger against the crown.

From the website George Washington's Mount Vernon:

 https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-revolutionary-war/the-coercive-acts-of-1774-timeline/

The first of the Coercive Acts, the Boston Port Act authorizes the Royal Navy to blockade Boston Harbor because “the commerce of his Majesty’s subjects cannot be safely carried on there." The blockade effectively closes Boston’s port to commercial traffic. Additionally, it forbids any exports to foreign ports or provinces. The only imports allowed are provisions for the British Army and necessary goods, such as fuel and wheat. The Act mandates that the port remain shuttered until Bostonians make restitution to the East India Company (the owners of the destroyed tea), and until the king determines that the colony is able to obey British laws and that British goods once again can be traded in the harbor safely. However, if the Bostonians refuse to pay the East India Company or the king remains unsatisfied, the harbor will be blockaded indefinitely.

And also from the Mount Vernon site is this information:

The Coercive Acts cause a clear shift in American public opinion. Where Washington had once questioned the radical Boston Tea Party, conceding “that we [do not] approve their conduct in destroying the Tea,” he now fully rallies behind the Bostonians.