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The French and Indian War
France and Great Britain had reignited a conflict that had started in the late 17th and first half of the 18th centuries. France and Great Britain had both wanted the rich land of the Ohio River valley. The French had built Fort Duquesne in the region, even though the government of Virginia had granted 200,000 acres of the land to wealthy planters. In response, the government had sent out its own military to evict the French, which had caused the French and Indian War. -
Treaty of Paris 1763
The Treaty of Paris had been signed at the end of the French and Indian War. The treaty had permitted Spain to keep possession of its lands west of Mississippi and New Orleans. Others who lost land were Native Americans, who resented the British settlers crossing the Appalachian Mountains, and feared they would scare their game. -
Proclamation of 1763
It had established a Proclamation Line along the mountains so the colonists wouldn't cross, yet they were eager to expand westward from the increasing Atlantic seaboard. They had ignored the proclamation and continued to colonize into Native American lands. -
Sugar Act & Colonists Response
Great Britain had borrowed money during the war that it made a national debt. King George hoped to lower the debt, so in 1763 he chose a financial expert, George Grenville, to serve as prime minister. Grenville soon angered merchants because he created the Sugar Act once he learned the merchants smuggled goods in without paying. -
Stamp Act & Colonists Response
The Act had imposed a tax on documents and printed items. A stamp was placed placed on items to prove that the tax was paid, and was the first act that affected the colonists directly since it was levied on goods and services. The colonists had united to defy the law, so Boston shopkeepers, artisans, and labors organized a secret resistance group to protest the law. The colonial assemblies declared that Parliament lacked power to impose laws on the colonists. -
Declaratory Act
Parliament had passed the Declaratory Act on the day they had repealed the Stamp Act. It asserted Parliament's full right "to bind the colonies and people of America in all cases whatsoever." Then suddenly in 1767, Parliament passed the Townshend Act, named after the leading government minister, Charles Townshend. -
Writ of Assistance
The Writ of Assistance was a written order issued by court instructing law enforcement to perform certain tasks. The British used this order to crack down on smuggling, and were used as a search warrant to search suspected ships of smuggled goods. -
Sons of Liberty is Formed & Samuel Adams
The Sons of Liberty was formed during the resistance of the Stamp Act. The Acts later imposed a tax on tea, the colonists favorite. The Sons of Liberty then acted on this Act by boycotting British goods, which was led by Samuel Adams, who was one of the Sons of Liberty founders. -
Townshend Act & Colonists Response
The Townshend Acts had taxed goods that were imported into the colony from Britain. The colonists response was was to protest and organized a boycott of imported goods. -
Boston Massacre
A mob gathered and taunted British soldiers who where standing guard at the Boston Customs House, shots were then fired and five colonists were either dead or wounded. Despite the strong political feeling from either side, the tension had relaxed after three years. -
Tea Act
Lord Frederick North had devised the Tea Act to save a nearly Bankrupt British East India Company. It granted the right for the company to sell tea to the colonies free of taxes that colonial tea seller had to pay. This would have cut the merchants out of the tea trade by enabling the East India Company to sell directly to consumers for less, which North had hoped the American colonists would buy, instead they had dramatically protested. -
Boston Tea Party
A large group of Boston rebels had disguised themselves as Native Americans and proceeded to fight against the three British tea ships in the harbor, and dumped 18,000 pounds of the tea from the East India Company into the Boston harbor waters. -
The Intolerable Acts
King George III, who was infuriated by the actions, pressed the Parliament to act. They responded by passing multiple acts that the colonists had called the Intolerable Acts. One Act had shut down the Boston harbor, while another, the Quartering Act, authorized British commanders to house soldiers into private homes and other buildings that were vacant. Finally, the commander-in-chief of British forces, General Thomas Gage, was appointed the new governor of Massachusetts. -
First Continental Congress Meets
In response to Britain's Acts, committees of correspondence assembled the First Continental Congress. 56 delegates met to create a declaration of colonial rights in Philadelphia. They defended the colonies' right to run their own affairs, and stated that if the British were to use force against the colonies, they would fight back. -
Minutemen
The Minutemen were civilian soldiers that pledged to fight against the British on a minute's notice. Soon, General Thomas Gage had learned of the Minutemen, and ordered troops to march to from Boston to Concord, Massachusetts to seize illegal weapons in the spring of 1775 -
Second Continental Congress
The colonial leaders in Philadelphia to debate their next move, but the loyalties of the colonists sparked endless debates, but some delegates called for independence, while others wanted to be part of Great Britain. Despite their differences, they all had agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army, and have George Washington as its commander. -
Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition had urged King George to return to "the former harmony" between their countries, but the king rejected it. He issued a proclamation stating that colonies were in rebellion and urged Parliament to order naval blockade isolate a line of ships meant fo American coast. Despite growing crisis, many colonists were uncertain about becoming independent. Following the petition, public opinion began to shift. -
John Locke's Social Contract
Locke maintained that people had natural rights to life, liberty, and property, and that every society is based on a social contract. If government violates that social contact by taking or interfering with those rights, people have the right to resist or overthrow the government. -
Battle of Lexington
It was the first and shortest (15 min) battle for the RW. When the redcoats reached Lexington, they saw 70 minutemen standing in lines. British commander ordered them to drop their arms and leave, but they the colonists ignored them and went forward. No one knew who shot first, but the redcoats sent a volley of shots in the departing militia. Eight minutemen were killed, ten wounded, and only one redcoat was injured. -
Continental Army
It was a colonial militia with George Washington as its commander. -
Battle of Concord
The British marched to Concord, and found empty arsenal, and had a brief skirmish with the minutemen. British soldiers lined up to march back to Boston, but it quickly turned into a slaughter. 3,000-4,000 had assembled and fired on the marching troops behind stone walls and trees, making the British drop by the dozen. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Generally Thomas Gage decided to strike at the militiamen in Breed’s Hill, so he sent out 2,400 British soldiers up the hill. The colonist decided to hold their fire until the last minute and then began to mow down the redcoats that were advancing, before they finally retreated. While the colonists had lost 450 mean, the British had suffered over 1,000 casualties. -
Publication of Common Sense
The creator was Thomas Paine, and he had attacked the king and the monarchy by writing this pamphlet. He argued that responsibility for British tyranny lay w/ "the royal brute of Britain", & explained that his own revolt against the king had began with Lexington and Concord. He declared that independence would allow America to trade more freely, and stated that independence would give American colonists the chance to build a better society. -
Loyalists & Patriots
Loyalists were those who opposed independence, and stayed loyal to the king - judges, government, people of modest means. Patriots were those who supported the idea of independence - people who saw political and economic opportunity in America. The conflict made dilemmas for other groups such as African Americans whose main side was the patriots. Native Americans chose to be on the loyalists side. -
Declaration of Independenc
The author of the DoI was Thomas Jefferson. some statements were the rights of "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness", the right to "alter or abolish" government, and that "all men are equal". It was adopted on July 4th, 1776. -
Redcoats Push Washington’s Army Across Delaware River into Pennsylvania
The British had attempted to seize New York as part of a plan to stop the rebellion. They sailed into New York harbor with the force of 32,000 soldiers. The Continental Army had attempted to defend New York, but they were untrained and poorly equipped so they had soon retreated. By the late fall, the redcoats had pushed Washington’s army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. -
Washington’s Christmas Night Surprise Attack
Washington risked everything on a bold stroke set on Christmas night, in a desperate attempt to win an early victory. In the middle of a fierce storm, he led 2,400 men in small rowboats across the Delaware River. They march towards their objective, and defeated a garrison of Hessians in a surprise attack. -
Saratoga
Burgoyne’s plan was to lead an army down a route of Canadian lakes to Albany, where he then would meet British troops. It failed because he had surrendered once he realized his British officers weren’t coming. The outcome was that the French had allied with America. -
French-American Alliance
The French were secretly aiding the Patriots since early 1776, but once the Americans won the Saratoga battle, they were convinced that the Americans would win the war, so they signed an alliance with the Americans. -
Valley Forge
Washington and his Continental Army fought to stay alive at their winter camp in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, but more than 2,000 died. -
Friedrich von Steuben & Marquis de Lafayette
Friedrich von Steuben was a Prussian captain, as well as a talented drillmaster who helped train the Continental Army. Marquis de Lafayette had arrived to offer their help as well. He lobbied France for French reinforcements, and was a commander in Virginia during the last years of the war. -
British Victories in the South
Under Generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis, the British managed to capture Charlestown & South Carolina, in May 1780. -
British Surender at Yorktown
It was October 19th when Cornwallis finally surrendered. The Continental Army succeeded because they had surrounded the British while they were in Yorktown, and bombarded them day and night. -
Treaty of Paris
The delegates, John Adams, John Jay, & Benjamin Franklin, had signed the Treaty of Paris, which had confirmed the U.S. independence & a set of boundaries of the new nation. -
Facts
• The first shits rang out on the morning of April 19, 1775 in Lexington Mass.
• American battle deaths: 4,435
•At the Battle of Bunker Hill, colonial officer William Prescott ordered, “Do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes!”
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