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Albany Plan of Union
In 1754, the British Board of Trade called a meeting of seven of the northern colonies in Albany. Here, Benjamin Franklin came up with the Albany Plan of Union. This plan created the annual congress of delegates from the 13 colonies, It could raise a military and naval force, make war and peace with the Native Americans, regulate trade with them, tax, and collect customs duties. -
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French and Indian War
The French and Indian War was in North America and was fought between the French and the British. The War was fought because both the French and the British were trying to expand the land they owned in America. France allied with the Native Americans to go up against the British. The British won the war, but at a Great expense, which the colonists would later have to pay for. The war would conclude with the Treaty of Paris. -
George III Become King of Great Britain
George the III became king in 1760. After he became king he started being more firm with the colonists. He had more restrictive trading, added more taxes, mainly to support the British troops. Many of the colonists rejected the taxes that King George the III imposed, which would lead to further problems between Great Britain and the colonists further down the road. -
Stamp Act Congress
9 colonies sent delegates to the meeting of the stamp act congress where they opposed the stamp act. Parliament would repeal the act, but it did not make things much better. New laws were passed to tie the colonies closer to London. This made the colonists mad and created resentment towards British rule. Mob Violence, Organized resistance, and protests became a big problem. -
Stamp Act
Britain's Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which was the tax of stamps on all legal documents, certain business agreements, and newspapers. This made colonists upset and ultimately led to the wide use of the phrase "taxation without representation." -
Boston Massacre
After tensions between Great Britain ad the colonists rose after the newly imposed taxes, violent things started to happen. One of those being the Boston massacre. On March 5, 1770, British troops in Boston fired on a jeering crowd, killing 5 people. After the colonists had been boycotting English goods. -
Committees of Correspondence
This was before the start of the Revolution. It was a way for the colonies to be able to have communicated with each other. The first one was located in Boston. This was formed to help encourage people to stiffen the British and the laws that they kept coming up with for the colonies. It was also used as a way for the colonies to share useful information with each other. One of the big things that this group did was help resist the Stamp Act. -
Boston Tea Party
In retaliation to new laws and taxes the British were imposing, a group of men dressed up as Native Americans and boarded three tea ships in the Boston Harbor. They broke open the chests and dumped the ship's cargo into the sea to protest British control of the tea trade. -
Coercive Acts
The coercive acts were also known as the Intolerable Acts, they were laws passed by Great Britain to punish the colonists in Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. The Acts consisted of the Boston Port Bill, the Massachusetts Government Acts, the Administration of Justice Act, and The Quartering Act. -
First Continental Congress
A meeting between all of the colonies. Delegates from every colony except Georgia met in Philadelphia on September 9th, 1774. For two months the First Continental Congress discussed the situation with Britain and debated plans of action. They sent Britain a declaration of rights, protesting Britain's colonial policies to King George the III. They refused to trade with Britain until the taxes were gone. They boycotted Great Britain. The meeting adjourned on October 26, 1774. -
Lexington and Concord
On the night of April 18th, 1775 hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to Concord to seize an arms cache. Paul Revere and other riders alerted colonial men. After fighting for a while the colonists were able to push back the Redcoats. This lead to a victory for the colonists and paved the way to their independence. -
Second Contintal Congress
The Second Continental met after the revolution had begun. Each of the 13 colonies sent representatives to congress. John Hancock was chosen to be the president of Congress. They created a continental army. This congress was considered to be the nation's first government. It was seen as an unlawful assembly by Britain, but necessary to the colonists. With this congress, they fought a war, built an army and navy, borrowed funds, created a money system, made treaties with foreign powers, and more. -
Resolution of Independance
A year after the Revolution Henry Lee proposed to the congress that "These United Colonies are, and of right out to be, free and Independent States, that are absolved of all allegiance to the British Crown." It was an act to separate the colonies from Britain. On July second the delegates agreed to Lee's resolution after a spirited debate. Many of the delegates had doubts about separating from England, but on July 4th, 1776 they did and became a separate nation. -
Declaration of Independance
Congress made a committee with Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson. They were all preparing a proclamation of Independence. They voted on July 2 to break free from British control. On July 4 the declaration of independence was adopted and the colonies were free of Britain and became their own separate nation.