Ed Helms

So tensions between colonial settlers and the Shawnee escalated.

the Native American tribes and Appalachia there had escalated into what became known as Dunmore's War in 1774.

So after a series of battles, including the Battle of Point Pleasant, the Shawnee agreed to cede claims south of Ohio River, effectively opening up what is now present-day Kentucky to

colonial settlement.

So for many land-hungry Virginians, this was a great victory and something that they appreciated in Lord Dunmore and earned him a lot of goodwill.

Unfortunately, this goodwill would not last.

Things are about to go real bad for Dunmore.

Let's broaden out a little bit just for some additional context.

We're going to go up to Massachusetts.

Royal authorities are suddenly dealing with a situation so chaotic it earned its own dramatic title, the Powder Alarm of 1774.

So after the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passed the deeply unpopular Coercive Acts Act.

dubbed the Intolerable Acts by colonists.

And one of these acts barred Boston colonists from choosing who represented them in the council, the Massachusetts government's upper house.

Naturally, they weren't too thrilled about this.

And they prepared for a possible conflict by moving munitions and gunpowder from their usual storage locations to more secretive storehouses.

Yeah, they're riled up.

So they hide a bunch of these munitions and gunpowder and the British clocked it.

And they were like, oh, that's not cool, guys.

They reacted swiftly.

On September 1st, 1774, General Thomas Gage ordered British troops to seize the weapons and gunpowder from a Charlestown storehouse.