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French and Indian War
The British had cracked down on colonial smuggling to ensure that merchants were not doing business in any French-held territories 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, which started the war -
Writ of Assistance
Royal governor of Massachusetts authorized the use of the
writs of assistance, a general search warrant that allowed
British custom officials to search any colonial ship or building they believed to be holding smuggled goods. Many merchants worked out of their residences, the writs enabled British officials to enter and search colonial homes, evidence of smuggling or not. Merchants of Boston were outraged. American custom service, which collected duties, or taxes on imports, was losing money. -
Treaty of Paris
- The war officially ended. Great Britain claimed Canada, North America, east of the Mississippi River, and Florida from Spain. Treaty permitted Spain to keep possession of its lands west of the Mississippi and the city of New Orleans. France retained control of only a few islands and small colonies near Newfoundland, in the West Indies
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Proclamation of 1763
To avoid further costly conflicts with Native Americans, the British government prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. A Proclamation Line was made along the
Appalachians, which the colonists were not allowed to cross. However, the colonists, eager to expand, ignored the line. -
Sugar Act & Colonists Response
Colonists would pay a lower tax than be arrested for smuggling. It placed duties on certain imports that had not been taxed before.
Colonists accused of violating the act would be tried in a vice-admiralty court rather than a colonial court. There, each case would be decided by a single judge rather than by a jury of sympathetic colonists. Merchants and traders further claimed that Parliament had no right to tax the colonists because the colonists had not elected representatives to the body. -
Sons of Liberty & Samuel Adams
Boston shopkeepers, artisans, and laborers organized a secret resistance group called the Sons of Liberty to protest the law. On the same day that Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, they passed the Declaratory Act and 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. Led by men such as Samuel Adams, one of the founders of the Sons of Liberty, the colonists again boycotted British goods. -
Stamp Act & COlonists Response
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. Previous taxes had been indirect, involving duties on imports. In May of 1765, the colonists united to defy the law. -
John Locke's Social Contract
Enlightenment ideas that had spread throughout the colonies in the 1760s and 1770s. Philosopher John Locke maintained that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property. 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 interfering with those rights, people have the right to resist and even overthrow the government. -
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.” Colonists harass stamp distributors, boycott British goods, and prepare a Declaration of Rights and Grievances to act against the new laws they did not want. -
Townshend Acts & Colonists Colonists Response
Then, in 1767, Parliament passed Townshend Acts, named after Charles Townshend, the leading government minister. Taxed goods were imported from Britain, such as lead, glass, paint, and paper. 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. Colonists protest “taxation without representation” and organize a new boycott of imported goods. -
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 were killed or mortally wounded. Colonial leaders quickly labeled the confrontation the Boston Massacre, Paul Revere paints a dramatic picture of the event. Many colonists decided to arm themselves and prepare for an upcoming war. Despite strong feelings on both sides, the political atmosphere relaxed somewhat during the next three years. -
Tea Act
Britain gives the East India Company special concessions in the
colonial tea business and shuts out colonial tea merchants.
Colonists in Boston rebel, dumping 18,000 pounds of East India Company tea into Boston harbor. Britain needed to make money after repealing the stamp act. -
Intolerable Acts
1 Law shut down Boston harbor. 2 Quartering Act, authorized British commanders to house soldiers in vacant private homes and other buildings. 3 General Thomas Gage, commander-in-chief of British forces was appointed the new governor of Massachusetts. He placed Boston under martial law, or rule imposed by military forces. In response to Britain’s actions, the committees of correspondence assembled the First Continental Congress. -
First Continental Congress
In response to Britain’s actions, the committees of correspondence assembled the First Continental Congress. In September 1774, 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. -
Battle of Concord
After a brief skirmish with minutemen, the British soldiers lined up to march back to Boston, but the march 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. Colonists had become enemies of Britain and now held Boston and its
encampment of British troops under siege. -
Loyalists and Patriots
Loyalists: opposed independence, remained loyal to British king, included judges, governors, and people of more modest means. Many thought that the British were going to win and wanted to avoid punishment as rebels. Still others thought the Crown would protect their rights more effectively than new colonial governments would. Patriots: supporters of independence, drew their numbers from people who saw political and economic opportunity in an independent America. Many Americans remained neutral. -
Minutemen
Minutemen, civilian soldiers who pledged to be ready to fight against the British on a minute’s notice, quietly stockpiled firearms and gunpowder. They would fight against the British if called upon and the British tried to seize their weapons, yet the word traveled to fast and the colonists moved them before they got there. -
Second Continental Congress
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. Some delegates called for independence, while others argued for reconciliation with Great Britain. Despite such differences, the Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander. -
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.
King George flatly rejected the petition. Furthermore, he issued a proclamation stating that the colonies were in rebellion and urged Parliament to order a naval blockade to isolate a line of ships meant for the American coast. -
Battle of Lexington
Redcoats reached Lexington, Massachusetts, five miles short of Concord. They saw 70 minutemen drawn up in lines. The British commander ordered minutemen to lay down their arms and leave but the colonists began to move out without laying down their muskets. Someone fired, the British soldiers sent shots into the departing militia. 8 minutemen were killed and 10 more were wounded, but only 1 British soldier was injured. The Battle of Lexington, was the first battle of the Revolutionary War. -
Continental Army
Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander. They wanted protection from red coats as the war progressed. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
British general Thomas Gage decided to strike at militia men on Breed’s Hill, north of the city and near Bunker Hill. On June 17, Gage sent 2,400 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. By the time the smoke cleared, the colonists had lost 450 men, while the British had suffered over 1,000 casualties.
The misnamed Battle of Bunker Hill would prove to be the deadliest battle of the war. -
Publication of Common Sense
In a widely read 50-page pamphlet titled Common Sense, Thomas
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 declared that independence would allow America to trade more freely and independence would give American colonists the chance to create a better society, one free from tyranny, with equal social and economic opportunities for all. -
Declaration of Independence
United Colonies are free and independent States. Congress appointed a committee to prepare a formal DOI. Using Locke’s ideas of natural rights Jefferson’s document declared the rights of Life Liberty, pursuit of Happiness are unalienable rights. Jefferson government’s legitimate power only comes from consent of the governed if a government denies their unalienable rights people have the right to abolish government. The Declaration states that all men are created equal. -
Redcoats VS Washington
Continental Army tried to defend New York in late
August but untrained and poorly equipped colonial troops soon retreated. The British had pushed Washington’s army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. Washington lead men in small rowboats across the Delaware River. They then marched to Trenton, New Jersey, and defeated a garrison of Hessians in a surprise attack. -
Washington's Christmas Surprise
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 then marched to Trenton, New Jersey and defeated a garrison of Hessians in a surprise attack. They won and it boosted their morale for the war. -
Saratoga
Burgoyne didn’t realize that British officers were preoccupied with holding Philadelphia and weren’t coming to meet him. American troops finally surrounded Burgoyne at Saratoga, he surrendered on October 17. The surrender at Saratoga turned out to be one of the most important events of the war. The French had secretly aided the Patriots and the victory boosted France’s belief that Americans could win the war, the French signed an alliance with the Americans and openly joined them in their fight. -
French- American Alliance
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
1778 and openly joined them in their fight. 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. -
Valley Forge
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. Their endurance and suffering filled Washington’s letters to the Congress and his friends. -
Friedrich von Steuben & Marquis de Lafayette
American troops began an amazing transformation. Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian captain and talented drillmaster, helped to train the Continental Army. Other foreign military leaders, such as the Marquis de Lafayette also arrived to offer their help. Lafayette lobbied France for French reinforcements in 1779, and led a command in Virginia in the last years of the war. With the help of such European military leaders, the raw Continental Army became an effective fighting force. -
British victories in the South
British began to shift their operations to the South. At the end of 1778, a British expedition easily took Savannah, Georgia. Under Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis they captured Charles Town, South Carolina, despite defeats, the colonists battled Cornwallis hindering his efforts to take the Carolinas. The General then chose to move the fight to Virginia. -
British Victories in the South
The British began to shift 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 then left for New York, while Cornwallis continued to conquer land throughout the South -
British Surrender at Yorktown
The armies of Lafayette and Washington moved south toward
Yorktown. A French naval force defeated a British fleet and then blocked the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, 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. On October 19, 1781, Cornwallis finally surrendered. The Americans had shocked the world and defeated the British. -
Treaty of Paris
Peace talks began in Paris. The American negotiating team included John Adams, John Jay of New York, and Benjamin Franklin. In September 1783, the delegates signed the Treaty of Paris, which 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. Revolutionary ideals set a new course for American society.