This chapter addresses the tensions in late colonial society, the imperial crisis that followed the Seven Years' War (in the colonies, often called the French and Indian War), and the tumultuous decade that led to the "shot heard round the world" fired at Concord Bridge in April 1775. It portrays the origins of a dual American Revolution. Ebenezer MacIntosh, in leading the Boston mob against Crown officers and colonial collaborators who tried to implement a new colonial policy after 1763, helped set in motion a revolutionary movement to restore ancient liberties thought by the Americans to be under deliberate attack in England. This movement eventually escalated into the war for American independence. But MacIntosh's Boston followers were also venting years of resentment at the accumulation of wealth and power by Boston's aristocratic elite. Behind every swing of the ax, every shattered crystal goblet, and every splintered mahogany chair lay the fury of Bostonians who had seen the conservative elite try to dismantle the town meeting, had suffered economic hardship, and had lost faith that opportunity and just relations still prevailed. This sentiment, flowing from resentment of what many believed was a corrupt, self-indulgent, and elite-dominated society, produced a commitment to reshape American society even while severing the colonial bond. As distinguished from the war for independence, this was the American Revolution.
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