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This treaty ended the French and Indian War and displaced the French empire from the North American continent.
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The proclamation prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains due to fear of Indian attacks.
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The Sugar Act was the first law ever passed for raising tax revenue in the colonies. It increased the price on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies.
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The Stamp Act was the most odious tax of all. This tax was imposed to raise revenues to support the new military force and mandated the use of stamped paper or the affixing of stamps, certifying payment of tax.
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This act required certain colonies to provide food and quarters for British troops.
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An assembly of twenty-seven delegates from nine colonies who drew up a statement of their rights and grievances and beseeched the king and Parliament to repeal the stamp tax.
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This act reaffirmed Parliament’s absolute and unqualified sovereignty over the colonies.
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This act imposed a light duty on glass, white lead, paper, paint, and tea. Charles Townshend made it an indirect customs duty payable at American ports.
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British officials landed two regiments of troops in Boston which created a clash between the colonists and the soldiers. This clash caused troops to open fire and killed or wounded eleven citizens.
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Roughly a hundred Bostonians, loosely disguised as Indians, boarded tea-bearing ships, smashed open 342 chests of tea, and dumped their contents into the Atlantic.
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Parliament passed a series of acts to chastise colonists for the Boston Tea Party. These acts limited rights traditionally practiced in Massachusetts. Restrictions were placed on town meetings, officials who killed colonists in line of duty could now be sent to Britain for trial, and also a new Quartering Act gave local authorities power to lodge soldiers anywhere, even private homes.
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Fifty-five well-respected men from twelve of 13 colonies met in Philadelphia to consider ways of redressing colonial grievances. They drew up a Declaration of Rights as well as a solemn appeal to other British colonies, to the King, and to the British people.
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British troops were sent to Lexington and Concord to seize stores of colonial gunpowder. At Lexington, “Minute Men” recused to disperse and shots were fired, killing 8 Americans and wounding several more.Redcoats then pushed on to Concord, where they suffered heavy losses. These actions lead to the start of a war.
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The Congress selected George Washington to lead the improvised army besieging Boston. Washington was gifted with leadership and a strong character and his selection was largely political.
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The colonists seized a hill called Bunker Hill from which they menaced the enemy in Boston. The British blundered bloodily when they launched a frontal attack with 3,000 men. Americans mowed down the British but they ran out of ammo and they ran away.
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The Continental Congress adopted the Olive Branch Petition, professing American loyalty to the crown and begging the King to prevent further hostilities.
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Richard Henry Lee moved that the colonies needed to be independent states, so Congress appointed a committee to prepare a more formal statement of separation. Thomas Jefferson was chosen to write it. The Declaration of Independence was approved by Congress and in it it discussed natural rights of humankind and a long list of the presumably tyrannous misdeeds of George III.
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The Continental Congress sent delegates to France where they were guided by a “model treaty” which sought no political or military connections but only commercial ones.
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Washington stealthily recrossed the Delaware River, surprising and capturing 1,000 Hessians. A week later Washington defeated a small British force at Princeton.
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Washington transferred his army to vicinity of Philadelphia where he was defeated in two battles at Brandywine Creek and at Germantown. General Howe settled down in Philadelphia and left Burgoyne to flounder in upper New York. Washington then retired to Valley Forge. Burgoyne became trapped and was forced to surrender at Saratoga to General Horatio Gates.
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American soldiers went without bread for three successive days in the cruel winter of 1777-1778. Manufactured goods were generally in short supply in agricultural America, and clothing and shoes were appallingly scarce.
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One of the darkest periods of War was 1780-1781, before the last decisive victory. The British general Cornwallis was blundering into a trap. After futile operations in Virginia, he had fallen back to Chesapeake Bay in Yorktown to await seaborne supplies and reinforcements. Washington marched 300 miles from New York to Chesapeake accompanied by French army. They beset the British and cornered Cornwallis, forcing him to surrender his entire force.
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Britain now recognized independence of United States and granted generous boundaries: to Mississippi (west), to Great Lakes (north), and to Spanish Florida (south). Americans retained access to fisheries of Newfoundland. American concessions included Loyalists not to be further persecuted and Congress to recommend to states that confiscated Loyalist property be restored and debts owed to British creditors be paid. British concession was to accept defeat in North America.
