Actions of independence before Lexington and Concord.

[cachukis]

Textbooks, historians and descendants of Revolutionary War soldiers agree: the earliest live rounds of combat broke out at the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

But where the revolt against British rule actually began is open to interpretation — and little-known details of bold uprising point farther west.

Elaine Gardella, who leads the Worcester chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, says that by the time the minutemen and redcoats clashed on Lexington Common in 1775, the British had already lost control of most of the colony. In a wave of nonviolent rebellions, colonists took over local courthouses in Western and Central Massachusetts in 1774 and left the British reeling.

“Western and Central Massachusetts was the founding of the American Revolution,” she said, admitting a tinge of bitterness that Boston receives all the credit. “You can and should be bitter that your stories in your town have not been told.”


https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2025-05-19/these-places-west-of-boston-might-have-a-better-claim-as-the-birthplace-of-the-revolution

[Frasier Balzov]

1. Non-violent ? intimidation.

To avoid being seen as an unruly mob, the crowds which assembled to block use of official buildings left their firearms at home.

They did, however, intimidate British loyalists with sheer angry attendance and verbal threats, forcing who they perceived as their quisling fellow citizens to publicly renounce the king.

Guns no. Yelling and shoving yes. Nobody had heard of Gandhi or MLK yet.