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The Start of the French and Indian War
The French and Indian war was between the British and the French where both sides were supported by Indian tribes. The French wanted to expand their land south and the British wanted to expand west. They met near the Ohio river where conflict arose and the war began. They both wanted control over the fur trade. At the start, the French were winning with the help of the Indian Tribes until William Pitt gave a ton of money to ensure victory for the British. -
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The Road to Independence
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The End of the French and Indian War
Before the end of the war, the British demanded the colonists to fight with them. Indian tribes help the French but some help the British. The British spent heavily on the fight. Colonists were upset when taxes on top of heavy taxes were charged. The Spanish, who had helped the British win the war, gained the land west of the Mississippi River. The colonists build settlements and the British build forts. The war ended with the signed Treaty of Paris and the French lost nearly all of their land. -
The Stamp Act
In 1765, the British had a number of new taxes. They made lots of American Colonies including taxes, on tea, glass, paper, paints, and their leads. The taxes there were parts of groups of their laws they were called Townshend Acts. -
The Boston Massacre
Many British colonists were tired of the high taxes, the troops, and the British Parliament. Fights would often break out between the colonists and the British Soldiers. On March 5, a club was thrown and the British felt threatened. They fired into the crowd and in end, 5 colonial men dead. Soldiers were arrested for murder and witnesses claim that it was the colonists that threw the snowballs and clubs. The British Parliament took back the high taxes except on tea. -
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party took place and ended on December 16th, 1773. Despite setting high taxes on the colonies, Britain eventually withdrew the taxes except for the taxes on tea. The colonists responded by boycotting the tea sold by Britain and secretly smuggling tea from different countries. At a meeting, a president was willing to buy tea from Britain but the rest of the colonists refused. That night, a group of people threw many chests of British tea into a river. -
The First Continental Congress
It started in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774. when delegates (elected from citizens) were sent by all colonies (except Georgia). However, their goal was not similar at all. But they worked together even though they had distrust between them since they’ve always been independent until then. They worked together to reject offers from English goods and establish mechanisms throughout the colonies to build resistance to Britain until they took back the Intolerable Acts. -
The Intolerable Acts
It started on June 2 when Parliament refused some colonial leaders to pay for the tea that had been dumped into the Boston Harbor. Parliament passed a harsh law to punish the Massachusetts colony which were than called the Intolerable Acts one in which the Boston Harbor would be closed until the tea was paid for. Committees of Correspondence called a meeting with almost all of the colonies and decided to stop all trade with Britain. Unfortunately, Britain only got angrier and passed more laws. -
The Second Continental Congress & Olive Branch Petition
In May, the Redcoats stormed Boston again and the 2nd Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia. To meet the military threat, they create the Continental Army. Washington was assigned to be Supreme Commander and Congress started printing money. In July, the Olive Branch Petition was approved, a direct appeal to the British King. The king ignored the petition and wanted to bring the colonists under control but the colonists wanted freedom which leads to the formal declaration of independence. -
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was presented to Congress on June 28th, 1776. This document was written by Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. The point of the document was so that the colonies could declare their independence since America had been at war for about a year.