-
Albany Plan of Union
In June of 1754, George Washington and delegates hoped to strengthen ties with Iroquois League. Another reason for the meeting was to work out a unified was effort in the norhern colonies. Benjamen Franklin offered a new plan called the Albany Plan Of Union. It called for a grand council of delegates from each colony, elected by colonial legislatures. Delegates approved plan, but the council legislatures rejected it. Legislatures were unwilling to surrender that much power to the central... -
The Albany Plan of Union
...government. The Albany Plan of Union was important because it proved a vivid model for the goevernment later in the United States. -
Treaty of Paris
In 1763, representation of Great Britain, France, and Spain signed the Treaty of Paris. The treaty ended the French and Indian War in America and the Seven Years' War in Europe. In the treaty, France turned over Canada to Britain and surrendered its clain to all lands east of the Mississippi River. The only exception was New Orlenes, which France had given to Spain in a secret treaty the year before. The British returned Cuba, whcih they captured in the war, to Spain in exchange for Floridia. -
The Proclamation of 1763
Native Americans approached British government officils with concerns, but discovered General Jeffery Amherst despised the Indians. Amherst ignored Indian protests, but he ended the flow of trade of goods in which the Indians had come to depend on. Indians rebelled on British in the Great Lakes region in 1763. This became known as Pontiac's Rebellion. By the end of the year, Native Americans destroyed every British fort west of the Appalachian Mountains. In October, King George issued the... -
The Proclamation of 1763
...Proclamation of 1763. This order closed the region west of the Appalachian Mountains to all settlement by colonists. Between 1764 to 1766, Britain signed peace treaties with Indian groups. Colonists continued to move west into forbidden territory. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was passed in 1764. This marked the start of a new British policiy designed to raise more income from the colonies. The new law cut the duty on foreign molasses in half. Grenville predicted that the lower tax would encourage Americans to buy imported molasses and pay tax rather than risk smuggling it. To enforce this tax, Grenville issued a flurry of regulations. Ship owners were told that their ships would be seiged if they didn't pay the duties. Also, Grenville required the... -
Sugar Act
...smuggling cases be tried in British courts rather than colonial courts. -
Stamp Act
In March of 1765,the British Parliment passed the Stamp Act. This law placed a tax on newspapers, pamphlets, legal documnets, and most other printed materials. It required that an official government stamp be printed on or attached to these materials to show that the tax had been paid. Grenville estimated that this tax would raise enough money to pay the cost of keeping British troops in America. The Stamp Act marked the first tiome that the British government taxed the colonists for the stated -
Stamp Act
...purpose of raising money. -
Sons of Liberty
Americans protested the Stamp Act by boycotting British goods. Groups like the Sons of Liberty sprang up to help enforce the boycott and to organize other ways of resisting British policies. One of the founders of the Sons of Liberty was Samuel Adams. In August 1765, they visited the person who distributed stamps in Boston. They warned him that if he didn't resign his house would be destroyed immediately and his life would be in continual danger. Several nights later a mob attacked the home.. -
Sons of Liberty
...of his brother in law, Thomas Hutchinson. The mob destroyed and carried off everything. In November 1765, when the Stamp Act was ready to take off, most stamp distributors fled. Merchants protested as the colinists boycott threatened their profitable trade with America. Parliment repealed the Stamp Act. -
Townshed Act
In 1767, the Parliment placed duties on imported goods like glass and tea. The laws were named after the British government's chief financial officer, Charles Townshed. Townshed hoped to satisfy the colonists by raising money through trade duties rather than direct taxes. This change would weaken the legislatures and undermine self-government in the colonies. Since the boycott against the Stamp Act was so successful, Congress agreed to stop importing all British goods. -
Boston Massacre
To put down violence resistence to the Townshed Acts, Britain sent troops to Boston, where officials feared a rebellion was at hand. Then on March 5, 1770, a small but unruly crowd threatened a squad of British troops. The soldiers opened fire on the crowd, leaving five colonists dead or lying in the snow. The next day, authorities arrested a British officer and eight soldiers and charged them with murder. -
The Boston Tea Party
in May 1773, Parliment passed the Tea Act. The law gave the British's East India Company the right to sell it's Tea in America without paying normal taxes. Colonists began smuggling tea to avoid taxes and colonists and merchants protested against the law. When the company's tea began to arrive in November 1773, several colonial port cities to refuse to let ships dock. In December 16, 1773 colonists disguised as Indians boarded three tea ships and broke open every crate of tea and dumped it in -
The Boston Tea Party
...in the harbor. -
Coercive Acts
After the Boston Tea Party, Parliment decided to punish Boston and all of Massachusetts. In the spring of 1774, they did this with a series of laws known as the Coercive Acts. One of the laws limited town meetings to once a year, another suspened the Massachustts General Court. These laws lead to the First Continental Congress. -
The First Continental Congress
Committees of Correspondence in several colonies called for a meeting to plan a united response. On September 5, 1774, a gathering og 56 delegates met at Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia. Delegates came from every colony but Georgia, and they had a wide range of opinions. George Washington from Virginia was a leading figure, as were Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee. They adopted a renewed boycott of British goods and a call to the people of all these English colonies to arm themselves and to -
The First Continental Congress
...for militias.On October 26, the Congress ended. -
Concord
After the British left Lexington, they marched onward to Concord. They destroyed some of the fire arms, but the Patriots hid most of their stockpile. As troops returned to Boston, 4,000 Patriots gathered along the road to shoot at them from behind trees and stones. This cost Britishan exhausting and costly defeat. 70 British soldiers were killed and 170 were wounded before they reached Boston. Americans counted 90 Patriots missing, wounded, or killed. This helped start the Revolutionary War. -
Bunker Hill
in June 1775, Americans occupied two hills North of Boston. June 17, 1775 British army attacked. They fell back as they saw 1,600 Patriots pour musket fire into their ranks. They attemped to attack a second time, yet again succeeded in taking Breed's Hill. Patriots were forced to retreat. Then, British forces quickly overran the second, weaker Patriot position nearby Bunker Hill, British won the Battle of Bunker Hill. However, 1,000 out of 2,400 British troops had been killed or wounded. -
Trenton and Princeton
Desperate times call for heroic measures. Lacking financial support, supplies, and experienced troops, George Washington took the challenge. Changing the tradition of not fighting in the winter, he led his troops on Chritsmas night in 1776, and went on the attack. Around 2,400 troops crossed the Delaware River in small boats. The next morning, they suprised 1,400 Hessians stationed at Trenton, New Jersey. Almost all the Hessians were capruted, but only five Americans died. Days later... -
Trenton and Princeton
...Washington drew up a new plan to attack Princeton. He led 5,000 troops on another difficult nighttime march. The next morning British troops under Charles Cornwallis spotted Washington's army and attacked. The Americans drove them back but inflicted a heavy loss on British and captured the town. Victories in December 1776 and January 1777 greatly boosted Patriot moral and convinced many to join and support the Patriot Cause. -
Victory at Yorktown
George Washington wanted to give Britain one last and fatal blow. A French army had just joined the Continental Army in New York. Washington quickly moved the combined American-French force south. When the British navy arrived in early September, the French ships drove it off. Later, Washington's troops arrived to reinforce Lafayette's force, and the Battle of Yorktown began. In October, the American and French artillary began to pound Yorktown. Cornwallis faced an army twice the size of his... -
Victory at Yorktown
...of his own, blocking his escape from the peninsula. on October 19, 1781 Cornwallis surrendered to Washington.
