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"Great Awakening"
This is when followers/believers in the lower class began to question higher authorities. The upper classes feared rebellion, disobedience, and felt that the lower class had too many rights. They wanted the lower classes to not question society so that they could continue to give them manual labor with no resistance. Things such as the King and parliament were at the stake of questions like "is the govt. upholding the social contract theory?" and "is the govt. protecting our 3 natural rights?" -
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French & Indian War
It's not necessarily the war that stirs rebellion but the Albany Plan of Union. It's proposed by Benjamin Franklin to create a semi-autonomous govt. to help levy taxes, military, treaties & trading with natives, settle new land and construct forts in Ohio R. Valley. Even though they reject it in the colonial legislatures, it sets up a basic model for early govt. in the colonies. The Americans will come back to this important piece of information to set a solid foundation after their victory. -
Proclamation Line
This was a divide in the land the King created to keep relations well, and in turn good trading, with the Native Americans. The colonies were furious with this because they just fought a 7-year war and they can't get any of the land they were fighting for that whole time. Not only that but they'll then get taxed for all of the materials they used for the war because of the debt. This gives the colonists good reason to be mad at Britain and it just gets worse from here, boiling up and spilling. -
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Stamp Act
This was a tax from Britain on the colonies' printed goods, all of them. This is the first tax from Britain and leads to the Sons of Liberty and the Daughters of Liberty. This was to help boycott products under this tax. They would boycott and even revert to violent methods like tarring & feathering tax collectors in order to show their anger and rebel against these. It created a bigger split in the relationship between Britain and the colonies. -
Quartering Act
After the French & Indian wars, Britain decided some soldiers should stay in the colonies. For this, the King created the quartering act. This meant that they needed a place to stay and the colonists would provide by housing them in their own houses and inns if a house wasn't big enough for them. This was an indirect burden from Britain because now they not only have to care for the soldiers but they also just never wanted them in the colonies to begin with. This enraged the colonists. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was the effect of the colonists throwing rocks, ice, and clubs at a line of British soldiers. Nobody was ever supposed to fire their gun but when one soldier fell and fired a faulty shot, chaos ensued. A total of 5 people actually died, so why is it called a massacre? Propaganda. There were many different renditions of what happened but it was the perfect opportunity to create propaganda against the British empire. -
Boston Massacre (pt.2)
This was the first rebellious/upset act against the British that the colonists really did that had a big impact. It was the first big split to create the trench of a relationship between the colonies and mother Britain. -
Boston Tea Party
This was to combat the Tea Act made by the King in 1773 which put a tax on all tea imports. So the colonies dress up (very badly, might I add) as Native Americans, sneak onto a ship, and dump 300-400 barrels of tea off the ship and into the harbor. This is an estimated damage of $1-$3 million. The effect of this is the anger from King George and his actions of using force to directly punish those involved. He wanted to reduce the colonies to a state of dependence again. -
1st Continental Congress
All colonies except Georgia met to discuss the Intolerable Acts King George had made. Their two main questions were, "what are our rights" and "how should we defend them". They decide to boycott products by going straight to the source of the stores selling British imported goods. They needed good communication and that happened. They effectively created the Committees of Correspondence to inspect customs houses to enforce the boycotts. -
Lexington & Concord (pt.2)
This means there are no more secrets. At the end of the battle, Britain suffers 273 casualties while the colonist only suffers 95 casualties. This gives the colonists hope. They just beat the world's biggest superpower with the best army in a battle by a long shot, maybe they do have a chance at independence. -
Lexington & Concord
There was increased violence from the British army so militias were created in MA, mostly in smaller towns. When the King hears about this, he acts immediately, planning to capture leaders and gather ammunition so they couldn't fight. Unbeknownst to the King, they had a spy network in MA to make sure they knew when the British were coming. When the British do come, the ammunition is moved and the militia of 150 colonists are ready. "Shot heard 'round the world." -
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2nd Continental Congress
They meet again because of the change of thought from Lexington & Concord. They talk about the difference between reconciliation v. independence, but not all colonists believe in independence. John Dickinson urges a petition while John Adams urges independence. From this, they nominate George Washington to lead the army and they create a very unorganized continental army. The war has basically started from this point on.