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French and Indian War
In 1754, the
French built Fort Duquesne in the region despite the fact that the Virginia government
had already granted 200,000 acres of land in the Ohio country to a
group of wealthy planters. In response, the Virginia governor sent militia, a group
of ordinary citizens who performed military duties, to evict the French. This was
the opening of the French and Indian War, the fourth war between Great Britain
and France for control of North America. -
Proclamation of 1763
To avoid further costly conflicts with Native Americans, the British government
prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. The
Proclamation of 1763 established a Proclamation Line along the
Appalachians, which the colonists were not allowed to cross. -
Treaty of Paris
The war officially ended in 1763 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Great
Britain claimed Canada and virtually all of North America east of the Mississippi
River. Britain also took Florida from Spain, which had allied itself with France.
The treaty permitted Spain to keep possession of its lands west of the Mississippi
and the city of New Orleans, which it had gained from France in 1762. France
retained control of only a few islands and small colonies near Newfoundland, in
the West Indies -
Sugar act & Colonists response
The Sugar Act did three things. It halved the duty on
foreign-made molasses in the hopes that colonists would pay
a lower tax rather than risk arrest by smuggling. It placed
duties on certain imports that had not been taxed before.
Most important, it provided that colonists accused of violating
the act would be tried in a vice-admiralty court rather
than a colonial court. Colonial merchants complained that the Sugar Act
would reduce their profits -
Stamp Act & colonists responce
This act
imposed a tax on documents and printed items such as wills, newspapers, and playing
cards. A stamp would be placed on the items to prove that the tax had been
paid. It was the first tax that affected colonists directly because it was levied on
goods and services. Merchants boycotted this act until it was repealed. -
Sons of Liberty is formed & Samuel Adams
In May of 1765, the colonists united to defy the law. Boston shopkeepers, artisans,
and laborers organized a secret resistance group called the Sons of Liberty to
protest the Stamp Act. The Acts also imposed a tax on tea, the
most popular drink in the colonies. Led by men such as Samuel Adams, one of
the founders of the Sons of Liberty, the colonists again boycotted British goods.
R -
Declaratory Act
Parliament passed the
Declaratory Act, which asserted Parliament’s full right “to bind the colonies and
people of America in all cases whatsoever.” -
Townshend Acts & colonists response
The Townshend Acts taxed goods that were imported into the colony from
Britain, such as lead, glass, paint, and paper. The Acts also imposed a tax on tea, the
most popular drink in the colonies. -
Boston Massacre
a mob gathered in front
of the Boston Customs House and taunted the British soldiers standing guard
there. Shots were fired and five colonists, including Crispus Attucks, were killed
or mortally wounded. Colonial leaders quickly labeled the confrontation the
Boston Massacre. -
Tea Act
Lord North devised the Tea Act in
order to save the nearly bankrupt British East India Company. The act
granted the company the right to sell tea to the colonies free of the taxes that
colonial tea sellers had to pay. This action would have cut colonial merchants out
of the tea trade by enabling the East India Company to sell its tea directly to consumers
for less. North hoped the American colonists would simply buy the cheaper
tea; instead, they protested dramatically. -
Boston Tea Party
On the moonlit evening of December 16, 1773, a large group of Boston rebels
disguised themselves as Native Americans and proceeded to take action against
three British tea ships anchored in the harbor.y, the “Indians” dumped 18,000 pounds of the East India
Company’s tea into the waters of Boston harbor -
Intolerable Acts
One law shut down Boston harbor. Another, the
Quartering Act, authorized British commanders to house soldiers in vacant private
homes and other buildings. In addition to these measures, General Thomas
Gage, commander-in-chief of British forces in North America, was appointed the
new governor of Massachusetts. To keep the peace, he placed Boston under martial
law, or rule imposed by military forces. -
First Continental Congress meets
56 delegates met in
Philadelphia and drew up a declaration of colonial rights. They defended the
colonies’ right to run their own affairs and stated that, if the British used force
against the colonies, the colonies should fight back. -
Minutemen
Minutemen—civilian soldiers who
pledged to be ready to fight against the British on a minute’s notice— -
Midnight Riders: Revere, Dawes, Prescott
Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel
Prescott rode out to spread word that 700 British troops were headed for Concord.
The darkened countryside rang with church bells and gunshots—prearranged signals,
sent from town to town, that the British were coming. -
Continental Army
the continental militia -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Gage sent 2,400 British soldiers up the hill. The
colonists held their fire until the last minute and then began to mow down the
advancing redcoats before finally retreating. the
colonists had lost 450 men, while the British had suffered over 1,000 casualties. -
Olive Branch Petition
Congress sent the king the so-called Olive Branch Petition, urging a
return to “the former harmony” between Britain and the colonies. -
John Locke's Social Contrast
every society is
based on a social contract—an agreement in which the people consent to choose
and obey a government so long as it safeguards their natural rights. If the government
violates that social contract by taking away or interfering with those
rights, people have the right to resist and even overthrow the government. -
Battle of Concord
The British marched on to Concord, where they found an empty arsenal.
After a brief skirmish with minutemen, the British soldiers lined up to march back
to Boston, but the march quickly became a slaughter. Between 3,000 and 4,000
minutemen had assembled by now, and they fired on the marching troops from
behind stone walls and trees. British soldiers fell by the dozen. Bloodied and
humiliated, the remaining British soldiers made their way back to Boston that
night. -
Second Continental Congress
S In May of 1775, colonial leaders
called the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia to debate their next
move. The loyalties that divided colonists sparked endless debates at the Second
Continental Congress. the
Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army and
appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Battle of Lexington
British soldiers sent a volley of shots
into the departing militia. Eight minutemen were killed and ten more were
wounded, but only one British soldier was injured. The Battle of Lexington, the
first battle of the Revolutionary War, lasted only 15 minutes. -
Loyalists and Patriots
Loyalists—those who opposed independence and remained loyal to the British king—included judges and governors, as well as people of more modest means. Patriots—the supporters of independence—drew their numbers from peo- ple who saw political and economic opportunity in an independent America. Many Americans remained neutral. -
Redcoats push Washington's army across Delaware river into Pennsylvania
Although the Continental Army attempted to defend New York in late August, the untrained and poorly equipped colonial troops soon retreated. By late fall, the British had pushed Washington’s army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. -
Publication of Common Sense
Just as important were the ideas of Thomas Paine. In a widely read 50-page pamphlet titled Common Sense, Paine attacked King George and the monarchy. Paine, a recent immigrant, argued that responsibility for British tyranny lay with “the royal brute of Britain.” Paine explained that his own revolt against the king had begunwith Lexington and Concord. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration states flatly that “all men are created equal.” On July 2, 1776, the delegates voted unanimously that the American colonies were free, and on July 4, 1776, they adopted the Declaration of Independence. The colonists had declared their freedom from Britain. They would now have to fight for it. -
Washingtons Christmas night surprise attack
In the face of a fierce storm, he led 2,400 men in small rowboats across the ice-choked Delaware River. They then marched to their objective—Trenton, New Jersey—and defeated a garrison of Hessians in a surprise attack. The British soon regrouped, however, and in September of 1777, they captured the American capital at Philadelphia. -
Saratoga
American troops finally sur- rounded Burgoyne at Saratoga, where he surrendered on October 17, 1777.The surrender at Saratoga turned out to be one of the most important events of the war. Although the French had secretly aided the Patriots since early 1776, the Saratoga victory bolstered France’s belief that the Americans could win the war. As a result, the French signed an alliance with the Americans in February -
French-American Alliance
he Saratoga victory bolstered France’s belief that the Americans could win the war. As a result, the French signed an alliance with the Americans in February 1778 -
Valley Forge
While this hopeful turn of events took place in Paris, Washington and his Continental Army—desperately low on food and supplies—fought to stay alive at winter camp in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. More than 2,000 soldiers died, yet the survivors didn’t desert. -
Friedrich von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette
in the midst of the frozen winter at Valley Forge, American troops began an amazing transformation. Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian captain and talented drill- master, helped to train the Continental Army. Marquis de Lafayette, also arrived to offer their help. -
British victories in the South
t the end of 1778, a British expedition easily took Savannah, Georgia. In their greatest victory of the war, the British under Generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis captured Charles Town, South Carolina, in May 1780. Clinton then left for New York, while Cornwallis continued to conquer land throughout the South. -
British surrender at Yorktown
a French naval force defeated a British fleet and then blocked the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, thereby obstructing British sea routes to the bay. By late September, about 17,000 French and American troops surrounded the British on the Yorktown peninsula and began bombarding them day and night. Less than a month later, on October 19, 1781, Cornwallis finally surrendered. T -
Treaty of Paris
In September 1783, the delegates signed the Treaty of Paris, which confirmed U.S. inde- pendence and set the boundaries of the new nation. The United States now stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from Canada to the Florida border.
