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French and Indian War
The French and Indian War lasted from 1754 - 1763, it decided which nation would control the north and east parts of North America, it also kept the British from colonizing the Ohio Valley. France and Britian were ina world-wide struggle to see who would gain Canada, Britian was the victor, and gained a large amount of land. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian War and gave Britian all land east of the Mississippi. Britisxh signed this document because they wanted to settled in France's land (Ohio River Valley). The colonists were very happy about this because they wanted to settle in native land. The Native Americans were not happy about this though because it was there land, they responded by attacking any colonists the chose to settle there. -
Proclataion of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 forbid colonists to cross the Appalachins because Britian did not want to pay for protection for the settlers, and they did not want to pay higher taxes to get the neccesary protection. The colonits were angered because they wanted freedom from Britian. The British wanted to avoid conflict with the Native Americans. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was a tax on sugar, and molasses, it did not affect that many colonists but many merchants were hurt by this act because the prices were higher and no one could afford them. The British wanted mor revenue to pay for debt from the war. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was a tax on legal documents, basically every single piece of paper had to have the official British stamp. The British used this act to gain revenue to pay war debts,the colonists, created the Stamp Act Congress to boycott. -
Writs of Assistance
This act gave rights to customs officers to search ships whenever they pleased, very few colonists were affected, but the few merchants thought it was an invasion of privacy. The British wanted to forbid smuggling of sugar and molasses. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were a tax the British put on some household items (paper, glass, lead, silk, and tea). The colonists responded by boycotting all taxed products. The British wanted to gain even more revenue to pay French and Indian War debts. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre happened when a rioting mob confronted British soldiers at the Boston customs office, tensions rose, 5 colonists were shot and killed, and many were found guilty of manslaughter. The first shot in this battle, was called "the shot heard around the world" becasue it was one of the key events that started the revolution. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act was when the British made the colonists supply and shelter the british soldiers, they were not happy about this but little could be done. The British did this so that they did not have to pay for food and shelter themselves. -
Tea Act
The Tea Act was when Tea Merchants in the colonies cut out of tea trade, because the British East India Company lowered tea prices so the colonists could not compete, because the company controlled tea sales. The Colonists in return had the Boston Tea Party to boycott the redicioulous prices -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was when the Sons of Liberty dumped 90,000 pounds of tea into the Boston Harbor to boycott. This striked the beginning of the Intolerable Acts. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerbale Acts were enforced by the British, they would not let the colonistd hold town meetings, the yclosed the Port of Boston (main trading port in Boston), and many customs officials were tried in England. The Colonists were effected a lot by this so they Held the first meeting of the Continnental Congress and the individual colonies began to unify. -
1st Continental Congress
The First Conetinental Congress met in Philidelphia in 1774, all of the colonies, except for Georgie, sent delegates. Tehy agreed to ban all trade with Britian until all of the unfair Acts were repealed. Each colony was also ordered to begin to train troops, this meeting was important because they werenot yet ready to declare independence, but to show they were not going to give in to all of the unfair acts. -
Give Me Liberty Speech
This was a Famous speech by Patrick Henry at the House of Burgesses in 1775 in Virginia. This got the colonists excited about the Revolution and split them into 2 sides, the Loyalists and the Patriots. His famous words at the end of his speech were "give me liberty, or give me death". -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
700 troops marched into Lexington but when the arrived they found 70 militiamen waiting. The Brithish ordered the Americans to step down, but they refused. In a very short time, many militiamen had died. After, British marched into Concord, destroyed any military supplies they could find, and engaged in batlle, but they were forced to retreat. They found 4000 minutemen along the road from Lexington to Concord, they tried to fight back as they returned to Boston. -
2nd Continental Congress
When the Second Continenetal Congress met in *hilidelphia in May 1775 they created the Olive branch Petition which declared their loyalty to Britian, but they asked for repeal of the Intolerable Acts. They also established the Continental army and elected George Washington to be the comander of it. -
Ft. Ticonderoga
Instead of getting harmony from the king, like they asked for, King George blocked American ships and sent Hessians to fight, in hope that colonists would give up, but they didn't. The Continental Army surrounded the British and used cannons to capture Ft. Ticonderoga. The Americans threatened to attack the city, so the British left, and so did many of the loyalists in fear of their safety. -
Bunker Hill
The Militias had built fortifications, this made the British attack. MIlitas were ordered to hold off as long as possible before firing but they were forced to engage and were forced off of the hill. The Birtish won this battle but suffered mort than 1400 deaths and casualties. -
Declartation of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a document created by the Continnental Congree in 1776, so everyone would not have to agree, they formed a comitee to write this declaration, the leader chosen to be in charge was Thomas Jefferson. 2 weeks later, the document was completed, it was passed, and independence was declared. It was based upon John Lockes beliefs (everyone has rights, and it is the governments job to protect these rights. -
Battle of New York
The Battle of New York occured when the British wanted to capture New York City. The British attacked Washingtons Army and killed many, Washington barely avoided capture, but he did and retreated to Pennsylvania. The British occupied New york City for the rest of the war, which humilitated Washington. -
Common Sense Published
Thomas Paine was living in the colonies and believed that it was rediculous that all of America was being governed by tiny island all the way across the ocean. He felt that there were plenty of other oppurtunities for trade outside of Britian where the colonists could sell there products. So in 1776 he publishe "Common sense' which increased public support for American Indepnedence. -
Battle of Trenton
The Battle of Trenton occurred when Washington planned a surprise attack on the British by crossing the frozen Delaware River. He captured over 800 Hessian prisoners (german soldiers hired by the British) and did not lose a single man. -
Battle of Princeton
The Battle of Princeton occured when Washington marched to Princeton, in New Jersey and after battle, had captured 300 British soldiers -
Battle of Saratoga
Beitish general Burgoyne wanted to cut of New England from the rest of the colonies, but the Americans were not going to let this happen. General Horatio Gates surrounded what was left of Burgoyne's army. After some time, Burgoyne surrenedered his army to the Americans. Saratoga was a turning point in the war becasue burgoyne surrendered and The Treaty of Alliance was signed by France in Spain to help the Americans defeat the British. -
Winter at Valley Forge
General George Washington's men spent the long, cold, winter at Valley Forge. They did not have enough food, water, or clothing to supply all of the troops. Almost a 1/4 of Washingtons army died becasue of the extreme temperatures. -
Battle of Yorktown
British General Lord Cornwallis moved all of his troops to Virginia where he would wait for reinforcemnets. General Washington decided it was the right time to set a trap because James Armistead spyed on the british and gave Washington information. He arranged for a fleet of French Battleships to sail into the bay to trap Cornmwallis. With the British in place, Washington would lead a 3 week attack on them. On October 17, the British surrendered, and the americsns had won independence. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris helped the colonies gain many rights and freedoms. Some of the freedoms they gained were: Great Britian recognized the United States as an independent nation, the United States gained all land east of the Mississippi (from Canada to Florida), but the U.S. had to return all property that was taken from the Loyalists.
