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French and Indian War
French-British conflict reignited
struggle between France and Britain that ended with the defeat of France and the transfer of French Canada to Britain -
Writs of Assistance
a general search warrant allowing British customs officials to search any colonial ship or building they believed to be holding smuggled goods
allowed by the royal governor of Massachusetts -
Treaty of Paris 1763
end of French and Indian war
Great Britain claimed Canaday and virtually all of North America east of the Mississippi River, took Florida from Spain
permitted Spain to keep possession of its lands west of the Mississippi and the city of New Orleans
France retained control of only a few islands and small colonies near Newfoundland, in the West indies, and elsewhere. -
Proclamation of 1763
established a Proclamation Line along the Appalachians, which the colonists were not allowed to cross -
Sugar Act & Colonists Response
- It halved the duty on foreign-made molasses, hoping colonists would pay a lower tax rather than smuggling
- It placed duties on certain imports that had not been taxed before
- Colonists accused of violating the act would be tried in vice-admiralty court rather than a colonial court (case decided on a single judge, no jury) Merchants & traders complained it would reduce their profits, claimed Parliament had no right to tax the colonists
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Sons of Liberty is formed & Samuel Adams
Sons of Liberty - a secret resistance group organized by Boston shopkeepers, artisans, and laborers to protest the law
Samuel Adams - one of the founders of SOL, led them to boycott British goods again (1767) -
Stamp Act & Colonists Response
act imposed a tax on documents and printed items such as wills, newspapers, and playing cards
first tax that affected colonists directly
colonists united to defy the law, secret group: Sons of Liberty
merchants boycotted British goods until Stamp Act was repealed -
Declatory Act
asserted Parliament’s full right “to bind the colonies and people of America in all cases whatsoever.” -
Townshend Acts & Colonists Response
taxed goods that were imported into the colony from Britain (glass, paint, and paper) and imposed a tax on tea (most popular drink in colonies)
organized a new boycott of imported goods -
Boston Massacre
British troops taunted by an angry mob, so they shot fires into the crowd, killing 5 colonists -
Tea Act
act granted the British East India Company the right to sell tea to the colonies free of the taxes that colonial tea sellers had to pay
devised by Lord North -
Boston Tea Party
the dumping of 18,000 pounds of the East India Company's tea into Boston Harbor by colonists to protest the Tea Act -
The Intolerable Acts
one law shut down Boston harbor
the Quartering Act - authorized British commanders to house soldiers in vacant private homes and other buildings
General Thomas Gage (commander-in-chief of British forces in North America) was appointed the new governor of Massachusetts, kept boston under martial law -
First Continental Congress
committees of correspondence assembled in response to Britain's actions
56 delegates met in Philadelphia and drew up a declaration of colonial rights
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
civilian soldiers who pledged to be ready to fight against the British on a minute's notice -
John Locke's Social Contract
an agreement in which the people consent to choose and obey to the government as long as it safeguards their natural rights.
if the gov violates that social contract by taking away or interfering with those rights, people have the right to resist and even overthrow the gov -
Midnight riders: Revere, Dawes, Prescott
rode out to spread word that 700 British troops were headed for Concord -
Battle of Lexington
"redcoats" saw 70 minutemen
British commander ordered minutemen to lay down their arms and leave, colonists moved out without laying their muskets
someone fired, British soldiers sent a volley of shots into the departing militia
18 minutemen killed, 10 wounded
1 British soldier injured
battle only lasted 15 minutes
first battle of the Revolutionary War -
Battle of Concord
between 3,000 and 4,000 minutemen had assembled, and they fired on the marching troops from behind stone walls and trees - British soldiers fell by the dozen
Colonists had become enemies of Britain and now held Boston and its encampment of British troops under siege -
Second Continental Congress
colonial leaders called the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia to debate their next move
formed the Continental Army -
Continental Army
Congress recognized the colonial militia as the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Gage sent 2,400 British soldiers up the hill (Breed's Hill)
colonists had lost 450 men, British suffered over 1,000 casualties
deadliest battle of the war -
Olive Branch Petition
uging a return to "the former harmony" between Britain and the colonies
King George flatly rejected the petition, issued a proclamation stating that the colonies were in rebelllion and urged Parliament to order a naval blockade to isolate a line of ships meant for the American coast -
Publication of Common Sense
50-page pamphlet, attacked King George and the monarchy
declared that independence would allow America to trade more freely and give American colonists the chance to create a better society - one free from tyranny, with equal social and economic opportunities for all -
Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson chosen to prepare the final draft, declared the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to be unalienable rights; a gov's legitimate power can only come from the consent of the governed, when a gov denies their unalienable rights, the people have the right to alter or abolish that gov.
provided a long list of violations committed by the king & Parliament
states flatly that "all men are created equal"
adopted on July 4, 1776 -
Loyalists and Patriots
loyalists - those who opposed independence and remained loyal to the British king; included judges, governors, people of more modest means
Patriots - supporters of the independence; included people who saw political and economic opportunity in an independent America -
Redcoats push Washington’s army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania
Continental Army tried to defend New York, too untrained and poorly equipped, soon retreated
by late fall, the British had pushed Washington's army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania -
Washington's Christmas Night Surprise Attack
Washington desperate for an early victory - Christmas night, 1776 led 2,400 men in small rowboats across the ice-choked Delaware River, marched to Trenton, NJ and defeated Hessians -
Saratoga
plan: lead an army down a route of lakes from Canada to Albany, where he would met British troops as they arrived from NYC
militia men and soldiers from the Cont. Army gathered from all over NY and New England as Burgoyne traveled - British officers were preoccupied with holding Philadelphia and weren't coming to meet him, Am troops finally surrounded Burgoyne at Saratoga, where he surrendered -
French-American Alliance
French had secretly aided the Patriots since early 1776, Saratoga Victory bolstered France's belief that the Americans could win the war
as a result, French signed an alliance with the Americans in Feb 1778 & openly joined them in their fight -
Valley Forge
Winter camp, Washington & his Continental Army, desperately low on food and supplies, fought to stay alive
more than 2,000 soldiers died, survivors didn't desert -
Friedrich von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette
von Steuben - Prussian captain and talented drill master, helped train the Continental Army
de Lafayette - foreign military leader, lobbied France for French reinforcements in 1779, led a command in Virginia in the last years of the war -
British victories in the South
a British expedition easily took Savannah, Georgia at the end of 1778
British under Generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis captured Charles Town, South Carolina in May 1780 (Clinton then left for NY while Cornwallis continued to conquer land throughout the South) -
British Surrender at Yorktown
armies of Lafayette and Washington moved south toward Yorktown
a French naval force defeated a British fleet and blocked the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, thereby obstructing British sea routes to the bay
by late Sept, about 17,000 French and American troops surrounded the British on the Yorktown peninsula & began bombarding them day & night
less than a month later, Cornwallis surrendered -
Treaty of Paris
American negotiating team included John Adams, John Jay of NY, and Benjamin Franklin.
in sept, 1783, the delegates signed the Treaty of Paris, confirming US independence and set the boundaries of the new nation.
