This book is a detailed account of the years leading up to the Revolutionary War. Rise to Rebellion starts out with the Boston Massacre in 1770, where at least 5 colonists were killed when the English troops occupying Boston opened fired on a crowd. This is the first of many events that begins the dislike of the British by many of the colonists and leads to the increased tension between the British and the colony of Massachusetts. At this time the Sons of Liberty, a collection of Boston citizens that wanted independence form England, were beginning to sow the seed of independence in all the colonists' minds. Most people ignored this and quickly forgot about the Boston massacre.
             In June of 1772 the British would again make the mistake of enraging the colonists. The colonies were only allowed to import products from Britain, but smuggling was very common. To combat the smuggling the British ordered Captain Duddington and the schooner Gaspee to patrol the harbor and put an end to smuggling. Over time the good captain began to abuse his power, stopping and seizing cargo from any ship he wanted, even the legal ones. This outraged the people of Rhode Island. While chasing a smuggler the captain cut too close to the shore and ran aground. A gang of local citizens rowed out to the Gaspee, took control, then burned it to the waterline. The king angrily responded and instead of just taking the loss, he removed each colony's judges and appointed them to be under his control. This made people angry all through America, their judicial system now belonged to the king. People all over America were suddenly beginning to realize that something was going to happen in the future between the colonies.
             As if the English weren't in enough trouble already, they made another policy that offended the colonists. The King signed a bill that cut the middle merchants out of the tea trade so the East India Tea Company would sell t...