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The French had two successful permanent settlements in North America: Acadia,
established in 1604, and Quebec, in 1608, from where his ships regularly carried furs to France
The French believed they could unite New France with their settlements in Louisiana and along.
of the Mississippi, which would prevent the English from having greater control of North America -
In the year 1749, the French began to send soldiers and their indigenous allies to
attack the English settlers. They claimed all of the territory along the Ohio River and the
lands of all the smaller rivers that flowed into it. -
Meanwhile, Governor Robert Dinwiddie of
Virginia and other governors of the colonies knew what
what the French were doing and
they were aware of their goals. In June,
Dinwiddie reported this to England and, in the middle,
In November, Virginia obtained permission to fight
with the French. Dinwiddie had sent the young man
Major George Washington to fight with the
French. -
British send George Washington to warn the French it was on British land.
French attack a British fort, Washington surrenders, retreats and war begins -
England believed it owned all land south of Canada but North of Florida. France believed it owned all of Central North America
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Britain had stronger navy, more colonist, and stronger economy to wage the war
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Frances gives Canada and all land east of the Mississippi river to the British
Britain now the most powerful empire in North America -
Britain is practically broken by end of war; asked colonies to pay them back through higher taxes
Britain started playing more active in governing the colonies afther war. Proclaimed in 1763 nobody could live west of the Appalachian mountains -
Britain made the colonies pay way more in taxes in order to pain Britain back for the French & Indian war and protecting the colonies; examples of tax increases were taxes on sugar products, on all printed materials, on tons of other goods -
Britain also started to violate the civil liberties and rights of colonies:
~ Writs of assistance: allowed British officers to enter any house/building they wanted
~ Quartering act: British troops could take over your home and live in it -
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Citizens began taunting British soldiers and throwing snowballs, Bristish soldier opened fire, killing 5 civilians. Soldiers put on trial and found not guilty
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Tea Act of 1773 put a tax on all British tea and banned sale of tea that was not British.
December 16, sons liberty and other rebels dumped British tea into Boston Harbor as protest against the tax -
Politicians from every colony except Georgia met to discuss how to respond to the blockade of Boston harbor and the presence of British troops
Petitioned the king to end taxation and intolerance Act's called -
The colonies were divided into:
Patriots: wanted complete independence from Britain, would become the soldiers in the America army fighting against Britain
Loyalist who didn't want to break away from the British empire -
war began when the minutemen in Massachusetts fought a brief battle with British troops at Lexington and Concord
The second Continental Congress was called, to which all colonies, sent representatives
Debated and agreed on declaring independence from Britain -
Washington's army was doing poorly for the first couple years of the war; Britain was winning easily -
Britian's army was way better: more powerful and large, well-trained and well-equipped, better navy and ships
American colonist had the advantages of fighting a defensive war and having committed political leaders willing to give up everything to win -
George Washington crosses the Delaware River with 5,400 soldiers, hoping to surprise a Hessian force celebrating Christmas at its winter barracks in Trenton, New Jersey. -
Americans won the battle of Saratoga in 1777 which led the treaty of alliance. France now thought the Americans could win the war, so they joined the war to help fight against the British
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The American army commanded by George Washington, with help from the French army and navy, beat the British at the battle of Yorktown
This would be the final blow; Britain surrendered shortly after this defeat
The peace treaty is signed at the end of September
