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French and Indian War
During the late 17th and first half of the 18th centuries, France and Great Britain had fought three inconclusive wars. Each war had begun in Europe but spread to their overseas colonies. In 1754, after six relatively peaceful years, the French–British conflict reignited. This conflict is known as the French and Indian War. (A war between the French and British over the rich Ohio valley just west of Pennsylvania and Virginia.) -
Writ of Assistance
A general search warrant issued by superior provincial courts to assist the British government in enforcing trade and navigation laws. Such warrants authorized customhouse officers (with the assistance of a sheriff, justice of the peace, or constable) to search any house for smuggled goods without specifying either the house or the goods. -
Treaty of Paris 1763
(After multiple British victories under William Pitt). In the Treaty of Paris, France lost all claims to Canada and gave Louisiana to Spain, while Britain received Spanish Florida, Upper Canada, and various French holdings overseas. -
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. -
Sugar Act & colonists response
- Halved the duty on foreign-made molasses in the hopes that colonists would pay a lower tax than risk arrest by smuggling.
- Placed duties on certain imports that had not been taxed before.
- Colonists accused of violating the act would be tried by a vice-admiralty court rather than a colonial court. Reduced profits for merchants and traders and complained that the British did not have a right to tax because they had not elected representatives to the body.
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John Locke's Social Contract
Locke maintained that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property. Furthermore, he contended, 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 of interfering with those rights, the people have the right to resist and even overthrow the government. -
Stamp Act & colonists response
Imposed a tax on documents and printed items such as wills, newspapers, and playing cards. It was the first tax that affected colonists directly because it was levied on goods and services.
Colonists harass stamp distributors, boycott British goods, and prepare a Delclaration of Rights and Grievances. -
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 law. Meanwhile, the colonial assemblies declared that Parliament lacked the power to impose taxes on the colonies because the colonists were not represented in Parliament.
Samuel Adams, one of the founders of the Sons of Liberty, the colonists again boycotted British goods. -
Declaratory Act
Asserted Parliament's full right "to bind the colonies and people of America in all cases whatsoever." -
Townshend Acts & colonists response/Why they were repealed
Taxed goods that were imported into the colony from Britain, such as lead, glass, paint, and paper. Also imposed tax on tea, the most popular drink in the colonies.
Colonies protest "taxation without representation" and organize a new boycott of imported goods.
They were repealed due to little profit and heavy expenses. -
Boston Massacre
On March 5, 1770, 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 as the Boston Massacre. -
Tea Act
Granted the British East India Company the right to sell tea to colonists free of taxes that the colonist 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. -
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. In this incident, later known as the Boston Tea Party, the “Indians” dumped 18,000 pounds of the East India Company’s tea into the waters of Boston harbor. -
Intolerable Acts - all 3 parts
- Shut down Boston harbor.
- The Quartering Act - Authorized British commanders to house soldiers in vacant private homes and other buildings.
- Commander-in-chief of British forces in North America was appointed new governor of Massachusetts. He placed Boston under martial law.
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First Continental Congress
56 delegates of 12 colonies assembeld in Philadelphia and drew up a delclaration of colonial rights. Defended colonies' rights to run their own affaris and stated that, if British used force aganist the colonists, the colonies should fight back. -
Minutemen
Civilian soldiers who pledged to be ready to fight aganist the British on a minute's notice.
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Midnight riders: Revere, Dawes, Prescott
The three riders rode out to spread word that 700 British troops were headed for Concord. -
Battle of Lexington
The first battle of the Revolutionary War thst lasted only 15 minutes. -
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 tp Boston, but the march quickly became a slaughter. Colonists had become the enemy of Britain. -
Second Continental Congress
Colonial leaders from the 13 colonies met in Philadelphia to debate their next move. After some disagreements they still agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Continental Army
On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress decided to proceed with the establishment of a Continental Army for purposes of common defense. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The deadliest battle of the American Revolution, the British defeated the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill in Massachusetts. Despite their loss, the inexperienced colonial forces inflicted significant casualties against the enemy, and the battle provided them with an important confidence boost. Although commonly referred to as the Battle of Bunker Hill, most of the fighting occurred on nearby Breed’s Hill. -
Olive Branch Petition
A letter to King George III, from members of the Second Continental Congress, which represents the last attempt by the moderate party in North America to avoid a war of independence against Britain. It was rejected by King George. -
Loyalists and Patriots
Loyalists: Those who opposed independence and remained loyal to the British king.
Patriots: The supporters of the independence.
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Publication of Common Sense
A 50-page pamphlet by Thomas Paine, Paine attacked King George and the monarchy. He declared that independence would allow America to trade more freely and the chance to create a better society-one free of tyranny, with equal social and economic opportunities for all. -
Declaration of Independence
Author: Virginia Lawyer, Thomas Jefferson.
Summary of statements made: States flatly that "all men are created equal." When this phrase was written, it expressed the common belief that free citizens were political equals. It did not claim that all people had the same ability or ought to have equal wealth. It was not meant to embrace women, Native Americans, or African-American slave--a large number of Americans. -
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. -
Washington's Christmas night surprise attack
Desperate for an early victory, Washington risked everything on one bold stroke set for Christmas night, 1776. In the face of a fierce storm, he led 2,400 men in small rowboats across the ice-choked Delaware River. They marched to their objective--Trenton, New Jersey--and defeated a garrison of Hessian in a surprise attack -
Saratoga
The British were supposed to regroup near NYC and isolate New England from the rest of the colonies. However, while he was fighting off the colonial troops, Burgoyne didn't realize that his fellow British officers were preoccupied with holding Philadelphia and weren't coming to meet him. American troops finally surrounded Burgoyne at Saratoga, where he surrendered. -
Valley Forge
From Valley Forge, Washington could keep an eye on General Howe's British army ensconced in Philadelphia. At Valley Forge, there were shortages of everything from food to clothing to medicine. Washington's men were sick from disease, hunger, and exposure. The Continental Army camped in crude log cabins and endured cold conditions. -
French-American Alliance
Formalized in the 1778 Treaty of Alliance, it was a military pact in which the French provided many supplies for the Americans. The Netherlands and Spain later joined as allies of France; Britain had no allies. The French alliance was possible once the Americans captured a British invasion army at Saratoga in October 1777, demonstrating the viability of the American cause.
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Friedrich von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette
Friedrich von Steuben: A Prussian captain and talanted drill master helped to train the Continental Army.
Marquis de Lafayette: Foreign military leader that assisted the Continental Army.
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British victories in the South
After their devastating defeat at Saratoga, the British moved their operations to the South. At 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 left for New York while Cornwallis continued to conquer land throughout the South. -
British surrender at Yorktown
A decisive victory by a combined force of American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington and French Army troops over a British Army commanded by General Charles Cornwallis (The French defeated British fleet at Chesapeake Bay, thus cutting off British sea routed by sea). It was the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War, as the surrender by Cornwallis, and the capture of both him and his army, prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the war. -
Treaty of Paris
Confirmed U.S. independence 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.
