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The cause of the French and Indian War was land. The English colonies wanted to expand west and the French and Indians resisted. Indians fought on both sides. The French had some early victories, while towards the end, the British captured key cities which signaled defeat. Some major effects of the war were the Treaty of Paris and Proclamation of 1763, also England's increase of taxes on colonists in order to help pay for war debt.
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The Proclamation of 1763 was established in result of the French and Indian War. The Proclamation reserved all land west of the Appalachian mountains for Indians. This negatively affected the colonies because this caused England to increase taxes to help pay for war debt. Parliament then passed a series of acts to raise money by taxing colonists.
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The person responsible for this act was George Grenville. England made this act lower taxes on sugar and molasses. Smugglers were sent to a British court in place of a colonial court. Colonists sent many letters to Parliament complaining of this and it was eventually repealed but the Stamp Act later followed.
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The Quartering Act required colonists to provide food, drink and living space for British soldiers.
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George Grenville was responsible for the Stamp Act. This law required an official government stamp on all legal documents. It was the first direct tax on the colonies. The Sons of Liberty was established in response to this, Samuel Adams was the leader and they protested and harassed British stamp agents. The Virginia Resolves were a series of solutions passed by the Virginia House of Burgesses in response to the Stamp Act.
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Delegates met in NYC to discuss the Stamp Act. They said that Parliament could not tax the colonies because colonies didn't have representations in Parliament, the act was repealed.
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Parliament repealed the Stamp Act and declared it had the right to rule and tax the colonies.
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Charles Townshend proposed this act which taxed goods such as lead, paper, glass and tea from England. During this, the "writs of assistance" was established, giving officers the right to search any house for smuggled goods. The colonists didn't like these acts.
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- No one knows exactly what happened before the shots were fired
- 5 colonists died
- British soldiers shot at protesting crowd
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- Colonists dressed up as Natives.
- They dumped 92,000 lbs of tea into the Boston Harbour. This caused England to pass the Intolerable Acts
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The Intolerable Acts were passed to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party and other protests.
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Colonists met in Philadelphia in response to the Intolerable Acts. Delegates from all of the colonies except for Georgia came, including John Adams, George Washington, John Jay and Patrick Henry. This defended colonies right to run its own government and states no military action unless attacked. They agreed to meet again, resulting in the Second Continental Congress.
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Parliament instituted a permanent administration in Canada, replacing the temporary government set up during the Proclamation of 1763. The colonists saw it as another Intolerable Act.
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The Redcoats stormed the hill in Charlestown three times but were forced to retreat. The British won but the colonists gained confidence that they could win the war.
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In 1775, the British general hears of a large stockpile of weapons and ammunition hidden in Concord so he orders the Redcoats to seize the stockpile. When the Redcoats arrive, seventy minutemen are waiting for them. Someone shot their gun and this is known as the "shot heard round the world. At Concord, the British found no weapons and this was considered the first battle of the American Revolution.
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The Second Continental Congress met again in Philadelphia, all states sending a delegate this time, and created a Continental Army. Some of our Founding Fathers that were there included John Hancock, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. The leader was George Washington. They wrote the "Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms". They also sent the Olive Branch Petition to King George the third.
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Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense. This supported independence from Britain and it helped persuade undecided colonists to support independence.
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Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. It was presented on July 2 and it was approved on July 4. This officially announced the break with England. The main ideas of this was inalienable rights, unfair laws and taxes and how England had violated the social contract.
