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The Albany Congress
The British wanted the colonies to agree to cooperate in defending themselves against the French they also wanted the colonies, to form an alliance with the Iroquois and the colonies to come together, because of the war that was expected against the French. The Iroquois refused to make an alliance because the expected the French to win the war. Benjamin Franklin felt the colonies had to come together to make that point he published a picture of a snake chopped in pieces saying "Join, or Die". -
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French and Indian war
The French and Indian war was the French against the British. This war was fought for land, mainly the Ohio river valley. At first the French defeated the British, but in 1757 when William Pitt became prime minister it turned things around for the British. They attacked Quebec, and the French could no longer defend the rest of their North American territory. France ceded French Canada to Great Britain. -
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Pontiac's War
In the final days of the French and Indian War, the leader of the Ottawa nation, Pontiac, made an alliance with western Native Americans. Pontiac and the Native Americans attacked British forts and settlements, half a dozen British forts were destroyed. British settlers reacted by killing Native Americans that had not attacked them. The British eventually defeated them. -
The Proclamation of 1763
The British wanted to avoid further wars with the Native Americans, so they created the Proclamation of 1763. It banned colonial settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains. Colonial settlers did not agree with this, which made it impossible for Britain to enforce. -
The Sugar Act
The British wanted to impose new taxes on the colonies. So in 1764 Parliament passed the Sugar Act, which added tax to several products. Colonists caught smuggling got harsh punishment. Colonial merchants started to protest. -
The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was another law passed which put tax on newspapers, wills, licenses, insurance policies, land titles, contracts and other documents. The colonists boycotted this law and sent a petition demanding an end to the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act. -
The Quartering Act
The Quartering Act required colonists to house British troops and provide them with food and other supplies. The Colonists once again protested. -
The Boston Massacre
The protesters continued to boycott and Parliament repealed all the Townshed duties, except the one on the tea. Parliament did not repeal these in time, in March 1770 an angry crowd surrounded a small group of soldiers and started to throw snowballs and rocks. The soldiers started to fire shots killing 5 protesters. Two soldiers were convicted and got their thumbs branded. -
The Tea Act
The British Parliament passed the Tea Act to help the East India Company. The company had made money growing tea, but the colonial boycott seriously hurt the company. The Tea Act lowered the prices, the East India Company got a monopoly. This gave them all control of the product. The colonists didn't agree with this because many colonial merchants wouldn't be able to sell tea. -
The Boston Tea Party
A group of colonists called the Sons of Liberty organized in port cities to stop the East India Company from bringing tea to the colonies, they threatened ship captains who were bringing it and store merchants who said they would buy it. The tea was only unloaded in Boston. Finally on December 16th a group of men disguised as Native Americans got on a tea ship, during the next three hours they through 342 cases of tea off the ship. The "Native Americans" destroyed 90,000 pounds of tea. -
The Intolerable Acts
The king of Britain was outraged by the colonists, so Parliament passed four laws. The first law closed the port of Boston, two others increased the powers of the royal governor, and anyone accused of murdering a British colonial official could be tried in Britain, finally the last law strengthened the Quartering Act of 1765. Parliament also passed the Quebec Act, this claimed land of the Ohio and Missouri rivers as a part of Canada. -
The First Continental Congress
The meeting took place in Philadelphia. Twelve of the thirteen colonies sent delegates (Georgia did not). The congress demanded a repeal of the Intolerable acts and declared that the colonies had a right to tax and govern themselves. They also called for a new boycott of British goods. -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
In April, General Thomas Gage learned the minutemen were storing arms in Concord, he sent 700 troops to seize the armies. Two men, Paul Revere and William Dawes road through the night warning the minutemen. In Lexington 77 minutemen were waiting when the British arrived. Suddenly a shot was fired, it is now known as "the shot heard round the world. A bigger battle took place in Concord, this time 400 minutemen where there as the British reached Boston 300 of them had been killed or wounded. -
The Second Continental Congress
As the problems with Britain deepened, the Second Continental Congress came together in Philadelphia. The delegates included; Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, and Benjamin Franklin. All delegates felt they needed to prepare for war for war, first they had to from an army. The congress chose George Washington as the the commander of the new army, the congress also took steps by paying for its army with paper money. -
The Battle of Fort Ticonderoga
The battle of Fort Ticonderoga was an important victory for the American colonies, the fort was at the southern end of Lake Champlain and protected the water route to Canada. The Green Mountain Boys lead by Ethan Allen, reached the fort by crossing the lake at night. The British surrendered the fort almost immediately. This was important for the Americans because, it controlled the water route to Canada and the Hudson river valley, it also had valuable cannons and other weapons. -
The Olive Branch Petition
The colonies hoped for peace between them and Britain so the colonists sent out a petition called the "Olive Branch Petition". The petition stated, that they were loyal to the king. It asked George to stop fighting so all disputes between the colonists and Britain could be solved peacefully. Congress then passed a statement written by Thomas Jefferson it stated, "to die freemen rather to live as slaves." King George didn't bother to respond and instead sent 20,000 soldiers to end the revolt. -
The Invasion of Quebec
Two armies lead by, Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold. Arnold and his troops had a terrible journey through the woods of Maine, eating boiled candles, bark, and shoe leather. The Americans attacked. The attack turned back killing Montgomery and injuring Arnold. The Americans stayed outside in Quebec until May 1776 when they withdrew leaving Canada to the British. -
The Battles of Bunker and Breeds Hill
The Americans were running out of ammunition, and decided not to shoot until the British were 150 feet away. When they fired hundreds of British soldiers fell to the ground dead or wounded. The first British attack failed, and the situation repeated until the third attack. The Americans had ran out of ammunition completely. The hills were an important place for the British because they were across the harbor of Boston. -
The British withdrawal from Boston
Washington knew he had to create a regular army, he also knew he had to get better weapons so he brought the cannons seized from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston. This was a 300 thousand mile job taking 3 months to complete. Washington placed the cannons on high ground over looking Boston, The British could no longer keep their control of the city. The British withdrew Boston by sea and never returned. -
The Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was a document signed by France and Great Britain. This document was the ending to the French and Indian war it also was France ceding their North American Land such as French Canada, and territory East of Mississippi to Great Britain.