It's interesting to note that by modern definitions, the Sons of Liberty and the Minutemen would be considered terrorists. This shouldn't be taken to disparage or lessen their invention of a Free Nation, but it's something to keep in mind when looking at Chechnya, Kurdistan, and 1990s Afghanistan.
Thomas Miconi gives one such definition as The difference between resistance and terrorism: terrorists are only those who have killed innocent civilians. Hmm. I can't easily find records of civilians being killed, though tarring and feathering were common, and the Sons of Liberty certainly burned a few civilian governor's houses and coaches.