-
Several dozen slaves revolted, they started fires, and then killed the whites as they tried to put it out. The militia caught 27 slaves, and 6 of them committed suicide. Because of the slave revolt, New York officials passed a city wide black code that regulated free and black slaves.
-
Georgia was the last English colony to be established. Around 120 colonists established Savannah, near the Savannah River. Protestant refugees from Austria began arriving. Germans, German - speaking Moravians, Swiss, Welsh, Highland Scots, Sephardic Jews, and others made the colony ethnicaly diverse. It was established as a buffer against Spanish Florida, and it succeeded in that role.
-
While white families were at church, around 21 slaves attacked a store in Stono, SC, they seized weapons, killed and decapitated 2 shop keepers, and fled toward Spanish FL as they went they got more recruits. The slaves burned 6 plantations and killed 24 whites. They freed more slaves, before they were caught by militia men, most of the rebel slaves were killed. The rebellion resulted in the Negro Act of 1740, and ban of importation of enslaved Africans for 10 years.
-
To sustain levels of immigration to British America, parliament passed the Naturalization Act. It announced that immigrants living in America for 7 years would become subjects of the British Empire after swearing a loyalty oath and proving that they were protestants. The law made exceptions for Jews.
-
Mary Burton, a white indentured servant, told authorities that slaves and poor whites were plotting to burn the whole town and kill the white men. They were supposedly led by John Hughson, a white trafficker in stolen goods. His wife, 2 slaves, and a prostitute were charged, convicted, and hanged. Within weeks more than half slave men in the city were jailed. 17 slaves and 4 were hanged. 13 blacks were burned at the stake and others were deported to the Caribbean.
-
The British officials in America were worried about a war with the French and their Native allies, so they called a meeting of northern colonies. 21 representatives from 7 colonies met in Albany, NY. The Albany congress approved the Plan of Union, it called for 11 colonies to get together, with a president appointed by the king. Each colonial assembly would have legislative power, and the union would have jurisdiction over Indian affairs. The plan was radical, and rejected by British officials.
-
In Boston, the British soldiers had become a source of irritation. On March 5, 1770, 24 colonists began throwing icicles and oyster shells at Hugh White, a young soldier, the town fire bell was rung and drew a large crowd. Soldiers arrived to help, the soldiers were surrounded and one was knocked down, he got up, fired and others joined in. 5 men died, and 8 were wounded. 9 soldiers were jailed. Later 2 were convicted of manslaughter and branded on the thumb with a hot iron.
-
In January 1776, Paine published a pamphlet called Common Sense, where he urged Americans to seize their independence. Common Sense convinced anxious American rebels that independence was necessary and inevitable. It also made the patriots direct their grievances towards the king instead of parliament.
-
The British decided to invade NYC in the summer of 1776, because it was the nation's leading commercial seaport and many Loyalists lived there. The patriots were greatly outnumbered. The patriots were defeated in the battle, so General Washington organized a retreat to Manhattan. Because of rain and help from New England boatmen the retreat was successful and it confused the British. The British made NYC the headquarters of their Royal Navy and the British army, they were welcomed by Loyalists.
-
The United States was a perpetual ally of France, because of the 1778 Treaty of Alliance, but Americans didn't want anything to do with the war between France and Britain. Hamilton and Jefferson agreed on not joining the French, and Jefferson wanted to use the French alliance as a bargaining point with the British. In the end, Washington issued the proclamation of neutrality that declared the U.S. as friendly and impartial to other countries problems.