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Albany Plan Union
French attacks on the frontier, in 1754 Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan for uniting the colonies. The colonies rejected the plan, however, because it gave too much power to an assembly made up of representatives from all thirteen colonies. -
French and Indian War
Started as a struggle between the French and British over lands in western Pennsylvania and Ohio; by 1756 many other countries became involved.Great Britian won the war in 1763 and gained complete control of the eastern third of the continent. -
George III becomes king of Great Britian
George was determined to deal firmly with the American colonies. to help pay for the war, the king and his ministers levied taxes on tea, sugar, glass, paper and other products. -
Stamp Act Congress
9 colonies sent delegates to a meeting in New York. this was th first meeting organized by the colonies to protest King Georges actions. delegates to congress sent a petition to the king, arguing that only colonial legislatures could impose direct taxes such as the Stamp Tax. -
Stamp Act
Imposed the first direct tax on the colonists. Stamp Act required them to pay a tax on legal documents, pamphlets, newspaper, and even dice and playing cards. Parliament also passes laws regulating colonial trade in ways that benefited Great Briain but not the colonies. -
Committees of Correspondence
Consisted of the colonies who wanted to keep in touch with one another as events unfolded. Samuel Adams established the first Committee in Boston. Virginia and other colonies soon joined in this communication network. 2 prominent member of the Virginia committee of correspondence were Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry. -
Boston Tea Party
Group of colonists dressed as mohawk indians dumped 342 chests of british tea into the Boston Harvor. -
First Continental Congress
meeting of the twelve colonies. Colonial leaders such as Patrick Henry, Samual Adams, Richard Henry Lee and George Washington attended. they imposed an embargo, an agreement not to use British goods. they also proposed a meeting in the folloowing year if Britain did not change its policies. -
Lexington and Concord
British readcoats clashed with colonial minutemen at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. This skirmish was the first battle of the Revolutionary War. -
Coercive Acts
Parliament passes the Coercive acts which the colonists called the Intolerable Act. One of these acts closed Boston Harbor. another of the coercive acts withdrew the right of the masachusetts colony to govern itself. by the early 1770s events clearly showed that revolution was not far off. -
Second Continetal Congress
within 3 weeks delegates from all thirteen colonies gathered again in Philidephia for the second meeting. The second continetal congress immediately assumed the powers of a central government. it chose John Handcock of Massachusetts as president. -
Resolution of Independence
congress promptly named a committee of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson , Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman to prepare a written declaration of Indepence. The committee asked Thomas Jefferson a Virginia planter known for his writing skills, to write the draft. On June 28th the comittee submitted the edited draft to the congress. -
Declaration of independence
one of the most famous documents in history. in the declaration jefferson drew on the ideas of Locke and other philosophers to explain the coloniests need for freeedom. the declaration explained the reasons the American colonies were angry at the British government. it confirmed why revolution was justifed and laid down the founding principles of the new nation.
