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The French and Indian War
On May 7, 1754- February 10, 1763 was the start and end of the French and Indian War. The French were building forts between Lake Erie the Ohio River. It was surprised colonists of Virginia because they claimed the Ohio River. The Governor sent out soldiers to go and command them to leave. George Washington was chosen to be a leader. The French declined the warning. A year later they went to go make a fort, but the French was already there, so Washington and his troops went down 50 miles and bui -
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French and Indian War
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Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was passed by the Parliament on April 5, 1764. The Sugar Act put import tax on sugar, molasses, and other products. It was hard on merchants who smuggled those products into the colonies those colonists protested. -
Quartering Act
On March 24, 1765 Parliament passed the Quartering Act. It was meant to save the British money after the war. In order to enforce the Proclamation of 1763, British kept 10,000 soldiers in the colonies. Colonists had to house the soldiers, feed them, and supply them. They were very angry about this, they protested saying that this was violating their rights. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was passed by the Parliament on March 27, 1765. Required each colonist to buy special tax stamps for products & activities. For example, newspapers, wills, licenses, insurance policies, land titles, contracts, and many other types of documents. Colonists from nine different colonies joined for a meeting in New York. They sent a petition to the Parliament & the King of Britain, saying that they want the Stamp Act repealed. The Stamp Act was repealed but passed The Declaratory Acts. -
Tea Act
In 1773, the Parliament passed the Tea Act. The Tea Act lowered prices tea It was supposed to help the British East India Company. They have made lots of money by selling tea to the British Colonies. But, once the Tea Act was passed boycotts began which hurt the profits of the British East India Company. -
The Boston Tea Party
On December 16, 1773 a group of colonists called The Sons of Liberty went on board of a British ship full of tea. They stayed on board the ship for three hours and threw overboard 342 crates of tea, that is worth $90,000. A large crowd gathered around them and cheered with joy. -
Intolerable Acts
The Boston Tea Party made the British very angry, so Parliament passed four laws. Colonists thought that the laws were harsh they called them the Intolerable Acts. First act closed the Boston Harbor. Two other laws, enlarged powers of the royal governor, eliminatated the upper house of the MA legislature & limited the powers of town meetings. Lastly, the fourth law increased the power of the 1765 Quartering Act. The colonists reacted by helping out in Boston. -
The Shot Heard Round the World
The colonies began to create militias. In April 18, 1775 General Thomas Gage, the new governor of Massachusetts sent 100 troops to capture arms. The British were coming at the same time too. Two men went out into the night to warn the militias. Five miles away from Concord, 77 minutemen were waiting when the British came. The British commanded them to leave, nobody followed orders. Then, out of nowhere someone opened fire. Nobody knew who did it, but it became the first shot of the Revolution. -
Common Sense
On January 1776, a 50 page pamphlet, called Common Sense by Thomas Paine was published. The pamphlet was wide support for independence. In the pamphlet Paine called King George III a “royal brute.” He wrote that “it would be much better if we governed ourselves.” His words moved the colonists. 500,000 pamphlets were sold during Jan. – July 1776. Washington said that, “Common Sense is working powerful miracles in the minds of the minds of men.” -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill was the first proper battle of the Revolutionary War. It showed the British that America can go against them. Also, persuaded the British to leave Boston too. The night of June 16, 1776 around 1,600 Americans went to Charlestown peninsula. The first British attack didn’t work, the second too, but on the third attack, the Americans were low on ammo and the British defeated them. There were 1,054 British wounded & 226 died, 140 Americans died, 271 hurt & 30 were seized. -
Crossing the Delaware
On December 25, 1776 Washington led 2,400 men across the Delaware River. When they crossed the river they went through the snow and Washington had to encourage them to keep on going. On Dec. 26, they surprise attacked Trenton from two sides. -
Battle of Yorktown
The leader of the British troops, Cornwallis made a big mistake. He moved his main army to Yorktown peninsula,some of Virginia comes out into Chesapeake Bay. He thought it would be good for his army, but at the end of August 1781 the French navy came off of Yorktown and chased down the British ships. At the same time Washington’s troops and the French raced to Virginia, they put the British into a trap. After 3 weeks, Cornwallis surrendered. On Oct. 9, 1781 the British put in their weapons. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris documented the independence of the United States. The boundaries of the new country were the Atlantic on the east, Mississippi River at the west, Canada north, and Florida south. The U.S. recommended that the states return the land and rights that were taken away from the loyalists; most of the states ignored that. On April 15,1783 the Congress approved the treaty.
