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Taxation Without Representation
People felt they weren't being represented in Parliament. The laws passed were violating the Bill of Rights (1689). James Otis came up with the saying "Taxation without Representation is Tyranny" -
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American Revolution
This is a brief summary of events that took place in leading up to America's Independance. -
Treaty of Paris 1763
It officially ended the French and Indian War. France lost Canada to Britain and Louisiana to Spain. This ensured colonial and maritime supremacy for Britain -
Proclamation of 1763
The colonists couldn't go live west of the Appalachian Mountains.
King George didn't want to supply troops to protect the colonists from the Indians. The colonists wanted to use the land, but they couldn't because of the Proclamation. -
Sugar act
The Sugar Act was an earlier version of the Molasses Act in 1773. King George wanted to discourage smuggling, so he lowered the tax on molasses. Although, it complicated trade for the American shippers. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was the first internal tax on the colonists. It taxed all paper documents. The British were in debt from the Seven Years' War, so they made a tax to give them money. -
Boston Massacre
A crowd of colonists had started harassing a sentry, so soldiers came to intimidate them. Then, after hearing the word "fire", the soldiers shot the colonists, killing 5 of them. The men were arrested for firing on an "unarmed" crowd. One of the dead was Crispus Attucks, the first African American to be killed in the Revolution. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a protest against taxation. The Sons of Liberty, a secret group whose leader was Sam Adams, threw 342 chests of tea into the harbor dressed as indians. This led to the Coercive Acts. -
Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts)
King George was furious, so he retaliated with the Coercive, or Intolerable, Acts. The acts closed the Boston Harbor, banned town meetings, and made General Gage the governor. -
Battle Of Lexington and Concord
This was the first battle of the revolution, known as the "shot heard around the world". Paul Revere and 3 other men rode around warning the colonists. That was known as the Midnight Ride. The Americans won the battle, surprisingly. -
Battle of Bunker Hill (Breed's Hill)
This was a battle that really built the confidence of the Americans, even though the British won. The colonists killed a lot of British and defended themselves by building dirt walls on the hill. -
Hanging of Thomas Hickey
Thomas Hickey was the person who tried to kill George Washington. He pretended to be a patriot in the Life Guards, to get close to George. As a punishment, he was hung. -
Declaration of Independence
This was a letter to King George explaining why the colonies should be independent. The main author was Thomas Jefferson. 56 men who represented the colonies signed it. -
Kips Bay
This was the start of the invasion of New York. The British took control of Kips Bay after battling about 500 colonists. General William Howe was leading the British. -
New York Great Fire
The Great Fire of New York burned about 1/3 of the city. People said it started in a low class barroom. It was very disastrous, about 500 buildings were destroyed. -
Delaware River
George Washington led his men across the Delaware River and defeated 1400 Hessians. Most of the Hessians were taken prisoner. -
Battle of Princeton
The American Army defeated the British. Washington won because he used different tactics and strategies. There were more than 6 times the amount of casualties in the British Army than in the Patriot Army. -
Battle Of Saratoga
There were really 2 battles. The British won the 1st one and the Americans won the 2nd. This victory was really important for the Patriots, because the victory made France an ally. This was the turning point in the war, because then the Patriots kept on winning and winning. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles was the first written Constitution of the U.S. and this allowed Congress to make treaties and alliances. Congress also wanted the power to tax, but failed, which then led to the ending of the Articles of Confederation in 1787. -
Battle of Yorktown
This was the last and most important important battle of the war. It was actually more of a siege, because the American troops surrounded the British on Chesapeake Bay. It took a really long time, but the British forces finally surrendered. -
Treaty of Paris 1783
This is the treaty that officially ended the Revolutionary War. It doubled the size of the nation. The treaty was negotiated by Adams, Franklin, and Jay.