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French and Indian War Starts
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French and Indian War
Although there is no exact date it started, It started in 1754 between the English and an alliance between the French and Native Americans. It ended in 1763 after a victory at Quebec with the Treaty of Paris. Resulting in the claim of Canada and virtually all of North America east of the Mississippi River. -
French and Indian War Ends
With the Treaty of Paris -
The Royal Proclamation of 1763
This prohibited colonists from corssing the Appalachians. This was to avoid further costly confilcts between the Native Americans and the British. However colonists still expaned westward in search of land. -
Sugar Act of 1764
This act halved the duty on foreign-made molasses. It also placed duties on certain imports that had not been taxed before. And it porvided that colonists accused of violating the act would be tried in a vice-admiralty court rather than a colonial court. -
Stamp Act
This act imposed a tax on documents and printed items such as wills, newspapers, and playing cards. A stamp would be placed on the items to prove that the tax had been paid. It was the first tax that affected the colonists directly becasue it was levied on goods and services. -
Sons of Liberty was Formed
Samuel Adams was one of the founders of Sons of Liberty. These colonists met every month to discuss how to boycott British Goods. -
Townshend Acts
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. -
Boston Massacre
A mob gathered in from of teh Boston Customs House and taunted the British soldiers standing guard there. Shots were fired and five colonists were killed or mortally wounded. Colonial loeaders quickly labeled the confrontation the Boston Massacre. -
Tea Act
Lord North devised the Tea Act in order to save the nearly bankrupt British East India Company. The act granted the company the right to sell tea to the colonies free of tax. This action would have cut colonial merchants out of the tea trade by enabling the East India Company to sell its tea directly to consumers for less. North hoped the American colonists would simply buy the cheaper tea; instead, they protested dramatically. -
Boston Tea Party
A large group of Boston rebels disguised themselves as Native Americans and proceeded to take actiaon against three British tea ships anchored in the harbor. The colonists dumped 18,000 pounds of the East India Company's tea into the Boston Harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
One law shuts down Boston Harbor. Another, the Quartering Act, authorized British commanders to house soldiers in cavant private homes nad other buildings. In addition to these measures. General Thomas Gage, commander-in-chief of the British forces in North America, was appointed the new governor of Massachusetts. To keep the peace, he placed Boston under martial law. -
First Continental Congress Meets
In response to Britain's actions, the committees of correspondence assembled the First Continental Congress. 56 delegates met in Philadelphia and drew up a declaration of colonial rights. -
Battles of Lexinton and Concord
In the Spring of 1775, General Thomas Gage of the British Army discovered illegal weapons in Concord, Massachusetts. At Lexington, 70 minuteman and the King's troops battled for 15 minutes with the first battle of the revolution. At Concord 3,000 to 4,000 minutemen assembled and ambused the British, resulting in many casualties on the British side. -
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American Revolution
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Second Continental Congress
Colonial Leaders called the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia met to debate their next move. The loyalities that divided colonists sparked endless devates at the Second Continental Congress. Some delegates called for independence, while others argued for the reconciliation with Great Britain. Despite this, the Congress appointed George Washington as the commander of the Continental Army. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Copped up in Boston, British General Thomas Gage decided to strike at militiamen on Breed's Hill, north of the city and near Bunker Hill. He 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. This battle would prove the deadliest battle of the war. -
Olive Branch Petition
Most the delegates, like most colonists, felt deep loyalty to George III and blamed the bloodshed on the King's ministers. Congress send the king the Olvie Branch Petition, urging a return to "the former harmony" between Britain and the colonies. King George flatly rejected the petition. Furthermore, he issue a proclamation stating that the colonies were in revellion and urged Parliament to order a naval blockade of the Americas. -
Publication of Common Sense
In the pamphlet titled, Common Sense, author, Thomas Paine, attacked King George and the monarchy. Paine argued that responsibility for British tyranny lay with "the royal brute of Britian". Paine declared that independence would allow America to trade more freely. He also stated that independence would give American colonists the chance to create a better society. -
Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson declared that rights of "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" to be "unalienable" rights. Jefferson asserted that a government legitimate power can only come from the consent of the governed, and that when a government denies their unalienable rights, the peopel have the right to "alter or abolish" that government Jefferson provided a long list of violations committed by the king and Parliment against the colonists' unalienable right. -
Battle of New York
As part of a plan to stop the rebellion by isolating New England, the British quickly attempted to seize New York City. The British saled into New York harbor in the summer of 1775 with a force of about 32,000 sodiers. They included thousands of German mercenaries know as Hessians. The untrained and poorly equopped colonial troops were quickly overrun and Washignton retreated across the Delaware River. -
Surprise at Trenton, New Jersy
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. -
Battle of Saratoga
As General John Burgoyne traveled to Albany to meet up with British troops from New York, militiamen and solders from the Continental Army gathered from all over New York and New England. While he was fighting off the colonial troops, Burgoyne didn't realize that his fellow British fellows were not coming to meet him. The Americans finally surrounded Burgoyne at Saratoga and he surrendered. This surrendered possibly changed the war and caused the French to sign an alliance with the Americans. -
Start of Valley Forge
Washington and his Continental Army-desperately low on food and supplies-fought to stay alive at winter camp in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Most than 2,000 soldiers died, yet the survivors didn't desert. -
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Stay at Valley Forge
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Friedrick von Steuben
A Prussian captain and talented drillmaster helped to train the Continental Army. -
Marquis de Lafayette
Military leaders like Marquis de Lafayette also arrived to offer their help. Lafayette lovvied France for French reinforcements in 1779, and led a command in Virginia in the last years of the war. -
End of Valley Forge
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Battle of Charles Town
In their greatest victory of the war, the British under Generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis captured Charles Town, South Carloina, in May 1780. After a long siege, the colonists surrendered after they discovered that they had inadeqeute fortifiacations. -
Battle of Guilford Court House
After the Battle of Cowpens, Cornwallis was determined to destroy Nathandaniel Greene's army. The British needed a two to one advantage to beat the Americans. This resulted in the British victory but they lost a quarter of their troops to do it. -
Battle of Yorktown
Shartly 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 Cheasapeake Bay, thereby obstructiong British sea routes to the bay. By September about 17,000 French and American troops surrounded the British on the Yorktown peninsula and began bombarding them day and night. Less than a month later, on October 19, 1781, Cornwallis finally surrendered. -
Treaty of Paris
Peace talks began in Paris in 1782. The American negotiating team included John Adams, John Jay of New York, and Benjamin Franklin. In September 1783, the delegates signed the Treaty of Paris, which confirmed U.S. independence and set the boundaries of the new nation.
