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John Locke's Social Contract
Locke maintained that people have natural
rights to life, liberty, and property. Furthermore, he contended, 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 taking away or interfering with those
rights, people have the right to resist and even overthrow the government. -
French & Indian War
As both the French and British empire started to expand individually they started to clash against one another. They had a total of 3 wars. This was known as the French & Indian War -
Writs Of Assistance
Writs of Assistance was basically court authorization or like a search warrant to that allowed British officials to search any colonial ship or building they thought had smuggles goods. -
Treaty of Paris 1763
This treaty (Agreemement between two countries) was signed in Paris by US representatives and British Representatives. This treaty ended the American Revolutionary war. -
Sugar Act & Colonists Response
What wa s established in 1764 was to basically replenish Britain's debt. Great Britain borrowed so much money for war, their debt doubled within that time. King George III had to choose financial expert, George Frenville to serve as prime minister to assist in the replenish of Great Britain. The Sugar Act also lower taxes rather than risk smuggling, It places jobs for certian imports, and finally it arranged that colonists accused of violating
the act would be tried in a vice-admiralty court -
Sons of Liberty is formed & Samuel Adams
The Sons Of Liberty a well-organized Patriot paramilitary political organization shrouded in secrecy, was established to undermine British rule in colonial America and was influential in organizing and carrying out the plan of the Boston Tea Party, Led by Samuel Adams. -
Stamp Act & Colonists Response
This Act is a tax on documents and printed items such as wills, newspapers, and playing cards. A stamp would be put on the items to prove that the tax had been paid. But by 1766 and from all the colonists/s boycotts it was revoked and repealed. -
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.” -
Townshend Acts & Colonists Response | Why they were repealed?
Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, named after Charles Townshend, the leading government minister. 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, the
most popular drink in the colonies. -
Boston Massacre
On March 5, 1770, a mob gathered in front
of the Boston Customs House and taunted the British soldiers standing guard
there. Shots were fired and five colonists, including Crispus Attucks, were killed
or mortally wounded. Colonial leaders quickly labeled the confrontation the
Boston Massacre. -
Tea Act
The Tea Act forced colonists to buy from East India and taxed tea in general. -
Boston Tea Party
Was a polotical party basically a protest on taxed goods. Led by Samuel Adams and Sons of Liberty, boarded the fleet and threw the goods overboard. -
Intolerable Acts - all 3 parts
An infuriated King George III pressed Parliament to
act. In 1774, Parliament responded by passing a series of measures that colonists
called the Intolerable Acts.One law shut down Boston harbor. Another, the
Quartering Act, authorized British commanders to house soldiers in vacant private
homes and other buildings. In addition to these measures, General Thomas
Gage, commander-in-chief of British forces in North America, was appointed the
new governor of Massachusetts. To keep the peace, he place -
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. -
MinuteMen
Minutemen—civilian soldiers who
pledged to be ready to fight against the British on a minute’s notice—quietly
stockpiled firearms and gunpowder. General Thomas Gage soon learned about
these activities. In the spring of 1775, he ordered troops to march from Boston to
nearby Concord, Massachusetts, and to seize illegal weapons. -
Midnight Riders: Revere, Dawes, Prescott
Colonists in Boston were watching,
and on the night of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel
Prescott rode out to spread word that 700 British troops were headed for Concord.
The darkened countryside rang with church bells and gunshots—prearranged signals,
sent from town to town, that the British were coming. -
Battle of Concord
The British marched on to Concord, where they found an empty arsenal.
After a brief skirmish with minutemen, the British soldiers lined up to march back
to Boston, but the march quickly 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. -
Battle of Lexington
The king’s troops, known as “redcoats” because of their uniforms, reached
Lexington, Massachusetts, five miles short of Concord, on the cold, windy dawn
of April 19. As they neared the town, they saw 70 minutemen drawn up in lines
on the village green. The British commander ordered the minutemen to lay down
their arms and leave, and the colonists began to move out without laying down
their muskets. Then someone fired, and the British soldiers sent a volley of shots
into the departing militia. Ei -
Second Continental Congress
In May of 1775, 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. -
Continental Army
Despite such differences, the
Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army and
appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Cooped up in Boston, British general Thomas
Gage decided to strike at militiamen on Breed’s Hill, north of the city and near
Bunker Hill. On June 17, 1775, Gage sent 2,400 British 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 -
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. -
Publication of Common Sense
In a widely read 50-page pamphlet titled Common Sense,
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 explained that his own revolt against the king had begun
with Lexington and Concord. -
Loyalists and Patriots
Loyalists—those who opposed independence
and remained loyal to the British king—included judges and governors, as well
as people of more modest means.
Patriots—the supporters of independence—drew their numbers from people
who saw political and economic opportunity in an independent America.
Many Americans remained neutral -
Redcoats push Washington's army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania
Although the Continental Army attempted to defend New York in late
August, the untrained and poorly equipped colonial troops soon retreated.
By late fall, the British had pushed Washington’s army across the Delaware
River into Pennsylvania. -
Declaration of Independence
While talks on this fateful motion were under way, the Congress appointed a
committee to prepare a formal Declaration of Independence. Virginia lawyer
Thomas Jefferson was chosen to prepare the final draft.
Drawing on Locke’s ideas of natural rights, Jefferson’s document declared the
rights of “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” to be “unalienable” rights—
ones that can never be taken away. Jefferson then asserted that a government’s -
Washington's Christmas night suprise attack.
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 their objective—Trenton, New Jersey—and defeated a garrison of
Hessians in a surprise attack. The British soon regrouped, however, and in
September of 1777, they captured the American capital at Philadelphia. -
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 -
Valley Forge
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. 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 -
Saratoga
American troops finally surrounded
Burgoyne at Saratoga, where he surrendered on October 17, 1777.
The surrender at Saratoga turned out to be one of the most important
events of the war. 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. -
Friedrich von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette
Other foreign
military leaders, such as the Marquis de Lafayette
(mär-kCP dE lBfQC-DtP), 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.
C
Molly Pitcher was
the heroine of the
Battle of Monmouth
in New Jersey,
which was fought in
1778. Afterward,
General Washington
appointed her as a -
British Victories in 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.He led his army of 7,500 onto the peninsula
between the James and York rivers and camped at Yorktown -
British Surrender at Yorktown
Shortly after learning of
Corwallis’s actions, the armies of Lafayette and Washington moved south toward
Yorktown. Meanwhile, a French naval force defeated a British fleet and then
blocked the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, thereby 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.In September
1783, the delegates signed the Treaty of Paris, which confirmed -
Treaty Of Paris
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. -
Proclamation of 1763
This Proclamation (Announcement) formed a Proclamation Line
along the Appalachians,where the colonists could not cross. The proclamation also transofrmed and secured four new colonies, three of them on the continent proper. Quebec, which was of course already well settled, two colonies to be called East Florida and West Florida and off the continent, Grenada.
