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Albany Congress
The British government called a meeting of colonial leaders. It took place in Albany, New York. They called the meeting to hopefully make an alliance with the Iroquois. The Iroquois declined. -
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French and Indian War
The French started building forts to claim the land between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. This alarmed the Virginia colony. The war broke out. The British won. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was signed by Britain and France in Paris, to end the French and Indian war, because France surrendered. France lost almost all of their North American possessions. Great Britain gained all of French territory east of Mississippi with the exception of New Orleans. -
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Pontiac's War
The leader of the Ottawa Nation, Pontiac, formed an alliance. This alliance attacked British forts and settlements. The British eventually defeated Pontiac at a battle near fort Pitt. -
The Proclamation of 1763
The British government issued this proclamation to ban the colonial settlement west of a line drawn along the Appalachian mountains. This failed when colonists ignored it. -
The Sugar Act
Parliament passed the Sugar act to put an impost tax on many products including Molasses. This ended in Colonial Merchants trading smuggled goods and protesting. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was passed by Parliament to require colonists to buy special tax stamps for all types of products and activities. They had to be placed on newspapers, wills, licences, insurance policies, land titles, contracts, and other documents. -
The Quartering Act
Parliament passed the Quartering Act to save money. This required colonists to provide troops with food and housing. The colonists complained that Parliament was violating their rights. -
Boston Massacre
A large group of angry protesters crowded a small group of soldiers in Boston and threw rocks and snowballs at them. The frightened soldiers fired into the crowd, killing 5 people. -
Tea Act
Parliament passed the Tea Act, trying to help the British East India company. They had been making a lot of money in Britain, but the tea boycott damaged that. The tea act lowered the price of tea by making it so the tea was shipped directly to the colonies.The colonists did not like that the act gave the East India company a monopoly on selling British tea in the colonies. This lead to the Boston Tea Party. -
Boston Tea party
On the night of December 16th a large group of men disguised as Native Americans boarded the ship in which the tea was held in Boston. Throughout the next 3 hours, they threw 342 cases of tea into the harbor. The raiders destroyed 90,000 pounds of tea worth thousands of dollars. -
Intolerable Acts
In response to the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passed 4 laws. The first act closed the port of Boston. The second act abolished the upper house of the Massachusetts legislator. The third act cut the powers of town meetings. And finally the fourth act strengthened the 1765 Quartering Act. -
First Continental Congress
12 of the 13 colonies sent delegates. Georgia was the only one who did not send representatives. The congress demanded the repeal of the Intolerable acts and declared that the colonies had a right to tax and govern themselves. It also called for training of the militias to stand up to British troops if necessary. The congress also called for a new boycott of British goods. They would meet again in May if demands were not met. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
General Thomas Gage learned that the Minutemen were storing arms in Concord. He sent 700 troops to seize the arms and capture some important colonial leaders. Paul Revere and William Dawes rode through the night to warn the minutemen. There was a battle in Lexington and a shot rang out.. That was the first shot of the American Revolution. -
The Second Continental Congress
The crisis with Britain deepened. Therefore, the second continental congress took place in May 1775. They decided to form an army, print paper money, and act like a government. They were doing their best to get their way. -
Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch petition was sent to King George. The King did not even bother to answer the petition. Instead, he declared that the colonies were "in open... rebellion." Parliament sent 20,000 soldiers to the colonies to end the revolt. -
Battles of Bunker and Breeds Hill
Americans surrounded Boston. But they were normal farmers and workers, they were trained, but not professionally. And they were about to fight against trained, tough, professional British troops. The Americans knew they didn't have much ammunition so they waited until the British were about 150 ft away, then fired. The first attack failed, and the second. But the third succeeded. Because the Americans ran out of ammunition. -
Invasion of Quebec
The Americans attacked Quebec during a severe snow storm. Montgomery was killed, and Arnold was wounded. The Americans stayed outside of Quebec until 1776. Weakened by disease and hunger, The Americans withdrew. -
The British Withdrawal from Boston
The British had to bring their cannons, which meant a hard 300 mile journey through forest, snow, and mountains. It took 3 months. They withdrew from Boston by sea, and never returned. -
The Battle for Fort Ticonderoga
A band of colonists made a surprise attack on the British. in New York, Allen's 83 men crossed the lake at night in order to surprise the British at the fort in the morning. 42 British troops guarded the for but surrendered almost immediately.