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French and Indian War
Start of tension started with the French pushing further into the Ohio River valley towards the colonies in the early 1950s. In the year 1754 the French built Fort Duquesne (which is modern day Pittsburgh.The British repeatedly attacked this Fort and failed ( the first attack on the fort was also the wars first battle). The British fought and won this war to keep the colonies safe, and felt afterward the colonists owed them. This feeling caused tensions that ended in the American Revolution. -
Treaty Of Paris 1963
The Treaty Of Paris which was signed in 1963 was a treaty the peacefully ended the French and Indian War. The treaty stated that France had to give up all of its territories that were in North America at the time. This was so Britain could eliminate the threat of other countries armies to their colonists. -
Proclamation of 1763
A proclamation made by the British after the French and Indian War made to keep Indians happy by not allowing colonists to settle on land past the Appalachian mountains. This failed because colonists didn't care and settled the new lands anyways. In the end it didn't matter all too much because the British didn't care enough to stop colonists from settling in these lands, and obviously the colonists didn't care enough to listen. -
Sugar Act
Made by the British with the intent of getting rid of the illegal sugar trade between the colonies and other countries. This act made the enforcement on sugar much higher which made sugar mush harder to get in the colonies. Smugglers would be tried in court and possibly arrested whether or not they paid duties to the British. -
Stamp Act
Act made by Britain meant to tax the colonists on most tings related to paper. It taxed printing companies on every newspaper made, which of course is a lot of money in the end. This tax angered many of the colonists and was one of the key first causes of the revolution .Patrick Henry had called for a repeal of the Stamp Act or else there would be a mutiny. -
Boston Massacre
On March 5, 1770 colonists where in a heated argument with a British soldier standing guard. After some of the argument the soldier struck a colonist with the end of his gun. After that happened tensions grew higher and more colonists and soldiers showed up, but after some throwing of rocks and snowballs by colonists a British soldier fired into the crowd. This in turn caused more soldiers to fire resulting in 5 dead colonists and three more wounded. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a very important event in american history. It was a massive sign of rebellion when American revolutionists dumped 342 crates of British tea into the Boston harbor. It was the colonists showing that they were against the taxes that they were being forced to pay, and in the end this event was one that heavily united the colonies. -
Intolerable Acts
The intolerable acts were laws passed by the British meant to punish the american colonists for the Boston Tea Party. The British closed the Boston harbor and wanted to make the colonists pay them back for the tea lost. The two worst parts of the intolerable acts though were the quartering act which made colonists house British soldiers in their homes and colonists would now have to be tried for their crimes in England with an unfair jury. These acts were infuriating to the colonists. -
Battle Of Lexington and Concord
Was the first battle of the American Revolution. Happened when tensions were building for awhile and colonists went to stop British from seizing an arms cache. Battle started in Lexington but then continued on to Concord to look for the weapons but they were already moved so they burned buildings while fighting the colonists. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
In the Battle of Bunker Hill the colonists stood ground on a hill and defended from oncoming British. The first time the British attacked they retreated after taking many casualties. But they attacked two more times until the Americans ran out of ammunition and the battle turned into hand to hand combat. Both sides had heavy casualties and was the last battle before General Washington took over to lead. Also the battle were the line "don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" was said. -
Common Sense the pamphlet
Common sense was written by Thomas Paine in 1776 to convince the colonists to go against Great Britain. He talks in the pamphlet about how after all the things that the British are doing to the colonists how could someone still support them. He tells the colonists that it is very clear that Britain does not care about the colonists and they treat them terribly so that the colonists should fight for freedom. -
Declaration of Independence
It was a bold move by the leaders of the Revolution especially since they signed their names on the document. By signing their names they were committing treason which is punishable by death. The DoC was the colonists stating that they were creating a new country whether the king liked it or not and it was to motivate the colonial troops. It also contains the ideals of what the nation would be founded on, such as all men are created equal. -
Battle of Trenton
The famous ride across the Delaware of the continental army happened before this battle. The battle was an attack on the British were Washington's troops marched 19 miles to the town of Trenton and killed or wounded many British. Washington sent two parts of the army to flank the British from another side which ended up succeeding. Only 2 colonists died and that was from freezing to death. -
Battle of Saratoga
Fought at a place called Freeman's Farm in Saratoga, New York. Battle lasted for several hours and both sides taking many casualties. The colonists were blocking British supply routes and were successful but the battle ended when German forces came to help the British so the colonists had to retreat. In the end though the colonists had less casualties than the British did. -
Valley Forge
Was one of the major camps for the colonial army's main forces during the harsh winters. This is where the army was disciplined and became a better and more organized army. After their time at Valley Forge the soldiers fought better and won more battles. -
Battle of Cowpens
In this battle the colonial army had riflemen and militiamen on their side which proved very effective. The colonists used their knowledge of the land and a unique fighting strategy of surprise tactics to win the battle. The British had over 800 casualties and the colonists had less than 100 casualties making it clear who won the battle. -
Battle of Yorktown
The siege of Yorktown was the final battle of the war. The siege which was won and orchestrated by the colonists caused the British to surrender and won freedom for the 13 colonies. The colonists surrounded what remained of the British until they had no other choice. -
Treaty of Paris 1783
Representatives of the US and Great Britain meet to sign the official end of the Revolutionary war. It also gave freedom to the colonies and got rid of debt between the colonies and Great Britain.
