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The French and Indian War
Both the British and French wanted the Ohio River Valley. The French already had made forts there for trade, and the English settlers wanted more land. The Native Americans sided with the French and the English settlers were on their own. This disagreement started the war. After the war, since the British won, they were in debt. With this debt, the British had to make more taxes to regain the money they lost. -
Proclamation of 1763
After the French and Indian War was over, Britain was stricter with the colonies. This proclamation did not let the colonists move any further west, and this was the first thing that each and every one of the 13 colonies had to follow. An Ottawa chief named Pontiac led a fight in response. In this case, King George the Third said that all the land to the west of the Appalachian Divide, were not allowed to settled in. Colonial governments and citizens could not make agreements or buy land from an -
Quartering Act
While the British soldiers were in America, the British government made the Quartering Act in 1765 where colonists had to supply, house, and feed the soldiers while they were there. The colonists were very annoyed by this act as usual but did not do much to stop it. -
Townshend Acts
Britain taxed the colonists on anything being brought into the colonies, threatened to raise the tax on any goods being exported from them, and Britain also started to force smuggling laws. The act had officially started on July 2, 1767 which quickly caused many protests and uprisings, and many colonists sent petitions and letters for the taxation to be removed, including the Massachusetts Circular Letter. Eventually, the Parliament took the tax away on all the goods except for tea. This event w -
The Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre happened because of angry and annoyed Americans, they were bothered by all the taxes the British made them pay. After some of the Americans insulted the British soldiers, they started firing. 8 soldiers either were injured or killed, and 5 Americans died. -
The Tea Act
In 1773, the British Parliament made the Tea Act, and did this for two reasons. First, to help the East India Company which gave the British a “monopoly on tea importation in North America”. Next, it was a sign to the American colonists how much power they had over them, that they could do anything they wanted to them. This made the colonists very aggravated and annoyed, so the people from the main ports in America made objections and threatened to stop the ships that held the tea from docking. -
The Intolerable Acts
-The Boston Port Act: The port of Boston was the first port to be closed until the lost tea was paid for to the East India Company, and this was hard for the people who lived in Boston because trade is what their lives depended on.
-Massachusetts Government Act: When the Massachusetts Charter of 1691 was modified, they took away several rights of self-government, and the British wanted to punish Boston for what they had done. Many postions in the colonial government had to be chosen by the King -
The Green Mountain Boys at Fort Ticonderoga
In the beginning of the Revolutionary War (1775-1783) Ethan Allen, the commander, and Colonel Benedict Arnold got Fort Ticonderoga which was the first colonial victory of the war. This fort was not very well guarded or not well conserved when the Green Mountain Boys came. At the fort, there were only 22 British troops there, and they also did not know about how the hostilities had broken out in Concord and Lexington. Later, Ethan Allen did execute a plan that was not planned well on Montreal whi -
The Battle of Bunker Hill
The patriots were in charge of the hills around Boston, and they got information from their spies that the British were going to attack Bunker Hill. General Howe brought British soldiers up Breed's Hill on June 17,1775, and their warships fired on the where the patriots were. British had to retreat after their third time charging. 226 British men were killed and 828 more wounded, they later had control of Breed's Hill. -
"Common Sense" published
Thomas Paine, born in England, wrote a 50-page pamphlet called Common Sense which was inspired by the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Several Americans were willing to leave the war against England, but in January 1776, Common Sense helped persuade the colonists that they should not want to have anything more to do with the king. This publication influenced many and more than 120,000 copies were sold in the first three months. This pamphlet was "based on the idea of natura -
Declaration of Independence Approved by Congress
One of the first documents in America was the Declaration of Independence which discussed the reasons why and that Great Britain should give the colonies their independence 1776 and this was not long after the start of the American Revolution. The Second Continental Congress took up the task of making this declaration with these 5 men; Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, John Adams, Robert R. Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson drafted it, and the whole Congress revised and debated -
Battle of Trenton
In the winter of 1776 Washington decided to make and attack in Trenton where the Hessians were, along the Delaware river before his army split up. He was planning to go across the Delaware at 3 different places with many commanders. For the first place; Pennsylvanians, Lt Col Cadwallader w/ a group of soldiers, and a Delaware militia that had 2 guns. For the second place; Brigadier Ewing of militia. For the third place; commanded by Washington, and they were going to cross the river and attack t -
Battle of Saratoga
In the Battle of Saratoga the Americans won, and they kept their control of the Hudson River Valley. They helped the French recognize the U.S. to make them sign the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, and all the French supplies helped with the colonies' independence for the Revolution. John Burgoyne, a British general, made a plan to surround New York from the rest of the colonies in spring of 1777. The general found out that the Northeast had the weapons for the war, and was hoping that if they sepa -
Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown was the last and very important battle in the war, because that is where America beat Great Britian. Lord Charles Cornwallis withdrew his army into Virginia to position his forces behind a place built for defense in Yorktown. He wanted to get reinforcements from Gen. Henry Clinton's army, which was stationed in New York at the time. Gen. George Washington and Gen. Jean Baptiste de Rochambeau led the Franco-American Army to the outside of Yorktown to force the British to su -
The Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was the official end of the Revolutionary War, and Great Britain recognized the independence that the colonies had. John Jay, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, and John Adams from both America and Paris on Nov. 30, 1782 and met almost everything that the U.S. wanted. It was formally signed on Sept. 3, 1783 and was given a legal approval by the Continental Congress on Jan. 14, 1784. From then on, America was its own independent nation.
