-
The Albany Congress
Expecting for a war to break out, the British government held a meeting of all the colonial leaders. This took place in Albany, New York and the purpose of this was to try and get the colonies to join together to fight the French. Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan to forma council that had the authority to collect taxes, organize armies, authority over western settlement relations with the Native Americans but the colonial assemblies rejected it. They would not join together to defeat France. -
Period: to
French and Indian War
The British/Iroquois/Colonists fought the French/Algonquin/Huron's during the French and Indian war. Both empires sought control of the Ohio River valley which let to conflict. After the British took control over Quebec, France was quickly defeated and they surrendered their entire empire in North America to the British. -
The Treaty of Paris
After France's forces were quickly depleting in the French and Indian war, they surrendered to the British and they formed The Treaty of Paris. As a result, the French lost all of French Canada and the British also gained all territory east of the Mississippi. Britain also received Spanish Florida. Also without France's help the Native Americans couldn't stop settlers from moving on to their lands. -
The Quartering Act
The Quartering Act was made so colonists would have to feed and house British soldiers and provide them with other supplies. The purpose of the Quartering Act was to save money for Great Britain and force the colonies to pay for it. The colonists protested angrily. The colonists thought that Parliament was violating their rights. -
Period: to
Pontiac's War
When the colonists tried to travel west into new lands, the Native Americans weren't to thrilled. Pontiac formed an alliance with the western Native Americans. In 1763, they attacked British forts and settlements. About 6 forts were destroyed and at least 2,000 settlers were killed. The British defeated Pontiac's forces in August during a battle near Fort Pitt. by 1764 the war was over. -
The Proclamation of 1763
The British wanted to avoid further conflicts with the Native Americans so they issued The Proclamation of 1763. It banned all colonist from forming settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains but this law was impossible to enforce so this law wasn't very effective. -
The Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was put into place to help pay for the French and Indian war. This war greatly put the British in debt. The Sugar Act taxed all sugar or molasses products. This also called for punishment on smugglers. Merchants who traded for smuggled goods protested. -
The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act required colonists to buy certain tax stamps for all kinds of products and activities. Protests against the Stamp Act were widespread. The House of Burgesses declared that it alone had the right to tax the people of Virginia. Merchants in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia organized a boycott and eventually these protest spread to other colonies. A petition was created and addressed to the king and Parliment. The protests worked and in 1766 the Stamp Act was repealed. -
The Boston Massacre
Parliament repealed the Townsend but not quick enough. In Boston, a large group of angry colonists surrounded a small group of British soldiers. The colonists yelled and threw snowballs and rocks at them while they were shouting. They fired back, killing 5 and wounding 6. 9 soldiers were tried for murder but only 2 of them were convicted. They were defended by a lawyer named John Adams. Adams was against the British rule but he believed that all people accused had the right to a fair trial. -
The Tea Act
The Tea Act was made to help the British East India Company. The colonial boycott of the tea seriously hurt the company. The Tea Act lowered the price of the tea because it allowed the East India Company to directly ship the tea to the colonies. This angered some of the colonists because certain merchants couldn't compete with the lower priced tea and they went out of business. some people argued that even though the price was lowered, they were still paying tax. -
The Boston Tea Party
A group of colonists called the Sons of Liberty was organized to stop the East India Company tea from being unloaded. They threatened the captains who were unloading the tea. The Governor Thomas Hutchinson decided to make sure that the tea would be unloaded. On December 16, 1773, a large group of men disguised as Indians raided the ships and threw 342 cases of tea overboard that was worth thousands of dollars. -
The Intolerable Acts
After the Boston Tea Party the British king was enraged. In response to this he passed four laws. The first act closed the port of Boston. The second act increased the power of the royal governor and the third abolished the upper house of the Massachusetts legislature and cut powers of town meetings. The fourth act strengthened the quartering act. These acts were so harsh to the colonists that they called them the Intolerable Acts. -
First Continental Congress
After the Boston Tea Party, the colonists wanted to decide what to do next. The only colony not to send a representative was Georgia. The Congress demanded the repeal of the Intolerable Acts and declared that the colonists had the right to tax and govern themselves. It also called for the training of militias and called for a new boycott of British goods. They then voted to meet again in May of 1775 if the demands were not met. -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
The new governor of Massachusetts learned that the militia were storing weapons in Concord. He sent 700 troops to seize them and capture some important colonial leaders. Two men rode on horseback to warn the militia. Paul Revere and William Dawes. 77 militia were waiting at Lexington and they stood still when the British came. Then a shot was fired and it was the first shot of the American Revolution. 400 men were waiting in Concord and the British retreated. -
The Second Continental Congress
When the conflict between the colonies and the British intensified, a second Continental Congress was held. The New England colonies demanded independence and the middle colonies wanted a less drastic action. But all the colonies agreed that they needed to prepare for war. Congress chose to form an army and George Washington was chosen to be the commander of the newly formed army. They planned to pay for the army by printing paper money. -
Battle of Fort Ticonderoga
On the same day the Second Continental Congress began meeting, an important battle took place in New York. A band of colonists made a surprise attack on Fort Ticonderoga. The fort protected the water route to Canada. The leader of the colonist attack was Ethan Allen. Allen's force of 83 men reached the fort by crossing the lake at night and reaching the fort in the early morning. Only 42 men guarded the fort and they surrendered almost immediately. -
Olive Branch Petition
Some delegates at the Second Continental Congress thought that peace could still be restored. Two resolutions were created. The first was the Olive Branch Petition and it was sent to the king. The petition got its name because the olive branch was the international sign of peace. The king didn't even read it and 20,000 soldiers were sent to the colonies to end the revolt. -
The Invasion of Quebec
In the December of 1775, the Americans launched an attack on Quebec which was controlled by the British. Led by the Americans were Benedict Arnold and Richard Montgomery. Montgomery's route was from Fort Ticonderoga. Arnold's was through a terrible journey in the woods of Maine. The weather conditions during all of this was brutal. A severe snowstorm had hit and the Americans were forced to turn back quickly after the battle began. Montgomery was killed and Arnold was wounded. -
The British withdrawal from Boston
When the Americans got the cannons from Fort Ticonderoga to the troops surrounding Boston, the British knew that they couldn't hold the city. On March 17, 1776, the British fled the city via the ocean and never returned. -
Battles of Bunker Hill and Breeds Hill
The British had about 6,500 soldiers in Boston. The Americans had about 10,000 surrounding the city. About 1,600 of that 10,000 occupied Breeds Hill that overlooked the city. Nearby was bunker hill which was also controlled by the Americans. The British decided to attack straight up Breed's Hill. The British attack failed and so did the second but the third attack was a victory for the British only because the Americans ran out of ammo. More than 1000 British troops were killed or wounded.