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French and Indian War pt. 1
The French and Indian War was really a war between the British and the French for control of North America that began when the French built Fort Duquesne on land claimed by the British in the Ohio River valley. This led the Virginian governor to send an armed militia, led by George Washington to stop them but the French defeated them easily. Washington and general Edward Braddock tried to attack a year later but the French and Native American allies ambushed them, causing them to flee. -
French and Indian War pt. 2
The British army was shown to be very weak and was defeated easily. Then, King George II elected William Pitt who resulted in some victories, gaining the British the Iroquois as allies. This gave them an edge and the British were able to defeat the French in a surprise attack near Quebec, causing them to win the war. -
Writ of Assistance
Used to reduce smuggling and authorized in Massachusetts in 1761, writs of assistance allowed British customs officials to search any colonial ship or building believed to have smuggled goods. Since many merchants worked out of home, this often meant they could raid their houses without any real reason. Merchants were outraged. -
Treaty of Paris 1763
This treaty officially ended the French and Indian War by granting Great Britain Canada, Florida and virtually all of North America east of the Mississippi while France controlled a few islands near Newfoundland and the West Indies. Spain kept lands west of the Mississippi and New Orleans but the Native Americans lost most of their land as settlers continued west -
Proclamation of 1763
After conflicts with the Native Americans over settlers expanding West, driving off game, and taking land, the British government issued the Proclamation of 1763 which prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachians. Many, however,ignored this proclamation in favor of expanding away from the crowded Atlantic seaboard. -
Sugar Act and colonists response
The Sugar Act halved the duty on molasses in an attempt to convince colonists to pay the lower tax instead of smuggling, placed duties on previously untaxed imports, and stated that colonists who violated these rules would be tried and the verdict issued by a single judge in a vice-admiralty court instead of by fellow colonists. Merchants and traders were upset because they thought it would lower profits and taxation was unfair without proper representation. -
Sons of Liberty is formed and Samuel Adams
In response to the Stamp Act which taxed documents, Boston shopkeepers, artisans, and laborers formed the Sons of Liberty, a secret resistance dedicated to protesting the law. Samuel Adams was one of their founders. Their boycott spread to New York and Philadelphia and the Stamp Act was repealed. -
Townshend Acts & colonists response and why they were repealed
After a boycott led to repealing the Stamp Act, the British government passed the Townshend Acts, named after the leading government minister, which taxed goods imported from Britain into the colony, as well as tea. This led to colonists to boycott all British goods and protest taxation without representation. However, these acts cost more money to enforce than they were making and so they were repealed with the exception of the tax on tea. -
Boston Massacre
While protesting the Townshend Acts, a mob gathered in front of the Boston Customs House to taunt British soldiers standing guard. In return, the soldiers shot and killed or mortally wounded five colonists including Crispus Attucks. -
Tea Act
Britain gave the East India Company concessions in the colonial tea business in order to save the company and shut out colonial tea merchants, leading to the Boston Tea party. -
Boston Tea Party
This was a protest to the Tea Act that shut out colonial tea merchants. A large group of Boston rebels disguised as Native Americans snuck onto three British ships and dumped 18,000 pounds of tea from the East India Company into the harbor, leading to the Intolerable Acts. -
Intolerable Acts
In response to the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts. One shut down the Boston harbor. Another authorized British commanders to house soldiers in vacant homes and buildings. Thomas Gage, British commander-in-chief became governor of Massachusetts and placed it under martial law. This was not well-received by the colonists. -
First Continental Congress meets
In response the the Intolerable Acts, the First Continental Congress was established by the committees of correspondence. 56 delegates met in Philadelphia to create a declaration of colonial rights. They defended the right of the colonists to control their own affairs and threatened to fight back if the British used force against them. -
Minutemen
After the meeting of the First Continental Congress, the colonists began to prepare for war. Minutemen were civilian soldiers who pledged to fight Britain whenever needed. They began to stockpile firearms and gunpowder, causing Thomas Gage to order illegal weapons seized. -
Midnight Riders: Revere, Dawes, Prescott
Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott knew the British were coming to Concord to seize illegal weapons and they rode from Boston to warn the colonists that 700 British troops were coming. This set off a chain reaction warning all the nearby towns. -
The Battle Of Lexington
As British soldiers marched to Concord, 70 minutemen assembled to fight them at Lexington, five miles short of Concord. When ordered to drop their weapons and leave, the minutemen moved out with their muskets, causing someone to fire. The British then fired onto the departing militia, killing eight and wounding ten though only one British soldier was injured. It lasted 15 minutes but was still the first battle of the Revolutionary War. -
Battle of Concord
when the British arrived at Concord, they found no weapons and began to march back to Boston. This was when the 3000 to 4000 minutemen that had assembled began to fire on them from behind trees and walls. British soldiers quickly fell and the remaining soldiers marched to Boston humiliated and defeated, making the colonists enemies of Britain and giving them control of Boston and its British troops. -
The Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress met to discuss where to go from there. Endless debate over whether to try for independence or reconcile with Britain occurred but despite this, they recognized the colonial militia as the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Continental Army
Led by George Washington, this was the colonial militia that had been recognized at the second Continental Congress. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Actually happening on Breed's Hill, the Battle of Bunker Hill was an attempted attack on the colonists by General Thomas Gage. The colonists held their fire until the last minute before striking down advancing redcoats before their eventual retreat. The colonists lost 450 men while the British lost over 1,000, making this the deadliest battle of the Revolutionary War. -
Olive Branch petition
Many colonists felt loyalty to King George III and blamed the bloodshed on his ministers. In one last effort to reconcile with the king, the colonists created the Olive Branch petition which urged a return to the "former harmony" between the colonies and Britain. It was resoundingly rejected by King George, who declared the colonies in rebellion and urged isolation of ships meant for the American coast. -
Publication of Common Sense
Common Sense is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in which he attacks King George and declares that independence would be better for the colonists as it would allow them to trade more freely and give them a chance to create a better society free from the tyranny of Britain and with equal opportunities for all. It was widely supported, selling nearly 500,000 copies. -
Loyalists and Patriots
As the Revolutionary War began, the Loyalists and The Patriots were the opposing groups of Americans. Patriots were supporters of independence who saw political and economic opportunity in an independent America while Loyalists were people of modest means who opposed independence in favor of the British king, thinking the British would win and this would help them avoid punishment as rebels or even that Britain could protect their rights better. However, many Americans stayed neutral. -
Redcoats push Washington’s army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania
In the summer of 1776, the British came into New York harbor with 32,000 soldiers, some of them German mercenaries. The untrained and poorly equipped Continental army was no match and was forced to retreat. By late fall the British had pushed Washington's army from New York across the Delaware into Pennsylvania. -
John locke's social contract
John Locke was an enlightenment philosopher who believed the people had natural rights to life, liberty, and property and that it was the government's job to protect these rights in exchange for the people's consent and order. If the government failed to do this, the people should rebel and establish a new government. He heavily influenced the colonists and their decision to declare independence. -
Declaration of Independence
Written by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence lays out the inalienable rights of "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness," as well as stating that the government's power comes from the consent of the governed and thus, due to the long list of violations presented, the king and Parliament had violated their inalienable rights and should not govern them. It says all men are political equals, actually leaving out a large number of Americans. It was adopted on July 4, 1776. -
Washington's Christmas night surprise attack
Christmas night, 1776: Washington is desperate for a victory so he takes 2,400 men across the Delaware River in a storm where they then marched to Trenton, New Jersey. Launching a surprise attack against the Hessians, they were initially victorious but the British regrouped quickly, going on to take Philadelphia the following September. -
Saratoga
General John Burgoyne planned to march from Canada to Albany with troops to meet the other British troops arriving from New York City to isolate New England from the other colonies by joining forces. However, the British troops never came as they were holding Philadelphia and Burgoyne was quickly overcome by colonial troops. They finally surrounded him at Saratoga, forcing him to surrender and enforcing French belief in the colonists. -
Valley Forge
While the French signed an alliance with the Americans, winter hit in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The under-fed, under-supplied camp of colonial soldiers fought to stay alive but more than 2,000 soldiers died. The survivors didn't desert though and this endurance and suffering filled Washington's letters to the Congress -
Friedrich von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette
In 1778, a talented Prussian drill-master and captain named Friedrich von Steuben trained the troops at Valley Forge. Marquis de Lafayette lobbied for French reinforcements in 1779 as well as lead a command in Virginia in the last years of the war. These two military leaders helped transform the Continental Army into an effective fighting force. -
French-American Alliance
The French, who had been aiding the Patriots in secret since early 1776, finally officially signed an alliance with them after the Battle at Saratoga proved that the Americans could win the war against the British. -
British victories in the South
The British moved south after their defeat at Saratoga. At the end of 1778, the British easily took Savannah. Then generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis captured Charlestown, South Carolina in May 1780 in Britain's greatest victory of the war. Cornwallis continued to conquer Southern territory, moving to Yorktown with a plan to fortify it, take Virginia, and go north to join other British forces. -
British surrender at Yorktown
Lafayette and Washington, upon learning of Cornwallis's actions, moved south to Yorktown. By late September, about 17,000 French and American troops surrounded the British and began constantly attacking them. The French had also taken Chesapeake Bay, preventing British sea routes to the bay. After less than a month of attacks on Yorktown, Cornwallis surrendered, marking the American defeat of the British. -
Treaty of Paris
Peace talks began in 1782 with John Adams, John Jay, and Benjamin Franklin negotiating for the Americans. In September 1783, the delegates signed the Treaty of Paris which confirmed U.S. independence and set the boundaries from the Atlantic to the Mississippi and from Canada down the the Florida border.
