-
French and Indian War
the final Colonial War (1689-1763) was the French and Indian War, which is the name given to the American theater of a massive conflict involving Austria, England, France, Great Britain, Prussia, and Sweden called the Seven Years War. The conflict was played out in Europe, India, and North America. In Europe, Sweden , Austria, and France were allied to crush the rising power of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. -
Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris ends French and Indian War (1754-1763). Canada east of the Mississippi River added to the British empire.The treaties marked the beginning of an extensive period of British dominance outside of Europe. -
Sugar Act
764 - The Sugar Act doubling the duties on foreign goods reshipped from England to the colonies. A court is established in Halifax, Nova Scotia with jurisdiction over all of the American colonies in trade matters. -
The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament as a means to pay for British troops on the American frontier. Colonists violently protest the first direct tax on the American colonies. Americans were forced to pay tax directly to England. and not to their own local legislatures in America. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act required American colonists to house British troops and supply them with food.
e result was the Quartering Act of 1765, which went far beyond what Gage had requested. The colonies considered this Act taxation without representation since the colonies had not requested the troops. This first Quartering Act (citation 5 Geo. III c. 33) occurred on 15 May 1765, and provided that Great Britain would house its soldiers in American barracks and public houses, -
Boston Massacre
On the evening of March 5, 1770, Private Hugh White was on guard in front of the Customs House on King Street in Boston. A crowd of people had gathered and began harassing the soldier. His calls for help brought nine soldiers led by Captain Thomas Preston. The crowd continued to harass the soldiers with insults, and were throwing snowballs at them.
In the commotion, someone yelled, "Fire!" and soldiers began shooting. Three townspeople were killed and eight more were wounded -
Tea Act
The Tea Act claiming a threepenny per pound import tax on tea arriving in the colonies and provides the British East India Company a virtual tea monopoly by selling directly to chosen tea agents, bypassing and underselling American merchants who acted as middlemen. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party occurs when activists disguise themselves as Mohawk Indians then board the ships and dump all 342 containers of tea into the harbor. The Colonial activists were believed to be organized by Samuel Adams and the "Sons of Liberty" group. Samuel Adams then began to make his case for independence to John Adams, his second cousin, and a wealthy merchant named John Hancock. -
Intolerable Acts
The government spent immense sums of money on troops and equipment in an attempt to subjugate Massachusetts. British merchants had lost huge sums of money on looted, spoiled, and destroyed goods shipped to the colonies. The revenue generated by the Townshend duties, in 1770, amounted to less than 21,000. -
The First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a body of representatives appointed by the legislatures of twelve North American colonies of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1774. It met briefly then set up its successor, the Second Continental Congress, which organized the Americans into war against Britain. The two bodies together comprise the Continental Congress. The First Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia in 1774, with 55 members representing all American colonies except Georgia. -
Battle of lexington and Concord
there Shots fired at Lexington and Concord where weapons depot destroyed. "Minute Men" force British troops back to Boston. George Washington takes command of the Continental Army. -
thomas paine common sense is published
The Crisis and The Rights of Man, reflect the free thinking and revolutionary idealism of a person who decided to seek something better than the monotonous life of a poor working class Englishman. Though neither well-educated nor a particularly a profound thinker, he was intelligent. Paine read the philosophers of the Enlightenment, and their ideas defined his own thinking. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress, states the reasons the British colonies of North America sought independence in July of 177 All men are created equal and there are certain unalienable rights that governments should never violate. These rights include the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. -
Articles of Confederatiom
The Articles were written during the early part of the American Revolution by a committee of the Second Continental Congress of the now independent thirteen sovereign states. The head of the committee, John Dickinson, who had refused to sign the Declaration of Independence, nevertheless adhering to the will of the majority of the members of the Continental Congress, presented a report on the proposed articles to the Congress on July 12, 1776, eight days after the signing of the Declaration.
