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Treaty of Paris (French and Indian War)
Treaty that officially ended the French and Indian War. The British gained control over the area west of the 13 British Colonies to the Mississippi River. The French agreed to no longer support any colonies in North America, including all of Canada. Since Spain had joined the war on the side of the French, the Spanish were also forced to give up their claim to Florida. The area of North America to the north and east of the Mississippi River was now under British rule. -
The Proclamation Line of 1763
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Sugar Act
The act that put a three-cent tax on foreign refined sugar and increased taxes on coffee, indigo, and certain kinds of wine. It banned importation of rum and French wines. These taxes affected only a certain part of the population, but the affected merchants were very vocal. Besides, the taxes were enacted (or raised) without the consent of the colonists. This was one of the first instances in which colonists wanted a say in how much they were taxed. -
Stamp Act
First direct British tax on American colonists. Instituted in November, 1765. Every newspaper, pamphlet, and other public and legal document had to have a Stamp, or British seal, on it. The Stamp, of course, cost money. The colonists didn't think they should have to pay for something they had been doing for free for many years, and they responded in force, with demonstrations and even with a diplomatic body called the Stamp Act Congress, which delivered its answer to the Crown. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act of 1765 was intended to help the British defray the cost of maintaining troops in America. The Act required that the colonists had to supply British troops with food,munitions and barracks. The Act was bitterly resented by the Americans, particularly because the troops were used to enforce Parliament’s new tax policies in the colonies; the negative effect this had on American sentiment toward the British was profound. -
Declaratory Act
The Declaratory Act, issued by Britain during America's colonial period, was one of a series of resolutions passed attempting to regulate the behavior of the colonies. American rebels had organized a boycott in response to the Stamp Act which called into question the right of a distant power to tax them. The Declaratory Act asserted Britain's exclusive right to legislate on and tax its colonies. The taxes were mainly used to finance war debt. -
Townshend Act
Series of 1767 laws named for Charles Townshend, British Chancellor of the Exchequer (Treasurer). These laws placed new taxes on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. Colonial reaction to these taxes was the same as to the Sugar Act and Stamp Act, and Britain eventually repealed all the taxes except the one on tea. In response to the sometimes violent protests by the American colonists, Great Britain sent more troops to the colonies. -
Boston Massacre
Shooting of five American colonists by British troops on March 5, 1770. One person, an African-American man named Crispus Attacks, was killed. Nearly every part of the story is disputed by both sides. Did the colonists have weapons? The British say rocks and other such weapons were hurled at them. But the British had guns, and they did open fire. The Boston Massacre deepened American distrust of the British military presence in the colonies. -
Committees of Correspondence
The Committees of Correspondence were formed throughout the colonies as a means of coordinating action against Great Britain. Many were formed by the legislatures of the respective colonies, others by extra-governmental associations such as the Sons of Liberty in the various colonies. In any case, the members of these organizations represented the leading men of each colony. It took some time, and an act as dramatic as the Boston Port Bill, to coordinate the colonies in action against Brtitain. -
Tea Act
An act that gave a monopoly on tea sales to the East India Company. In other words, American colonists could buy no tea unless it came from that company. Why? Well, the East Indian Company wasn't doing so well, and the British wanted to give it some more business. The Tea Act lowered the price on this East India tea so much that it was way below tea from other suppliers. But the American colonists saw this law as yet another means of "taxation without representation". -
Boston Tea Party
Angry and frustrated at a new tax on tea, American colonists calling themselves the Sons of Liberty and disguised as Mohawk Native Americans boarded three British ships (the Dartmouth, the Eleanor, and the Beaver) and dumped 342 whole crates of British tea into Boston harbor on December 16, 1773. Similar incidents occurred in Maryland, New York, and New Jersey in the next few months, and tea was eventually boycotted throughout the colonies. -
Coercive Acts/ Intolerable Acts
Series of laws sponsored by British Prime Minister Lord North and enacted in 1774 in response to the Boston Tea Party. These Acts were the harshest so far of all the Acts passed by Parliament. The closing of Boston's port alone would cost the colony (and the American colonies as a whole) a ton of money. The Regulating Act was aimed at curtailing revolutionary activities. The Quartering Act angered colonists who didn't want soldiers (especially Redcoats) in their houses. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a group of 56 delegates from 12 colonies (all except Georgia) who met in Philadelphia in September of 1774. They came together to act together in response to the Intolerable Acts. They met in secret because they didn't want Great Britain to know that they were united. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord ("shot heard 'round the world")
First shots fired between American and British troops. The British chose to march to Concord because it was an arms depot. British troops had occupied Boston and were marching on Concord as they passed through Lexington. No one is still sure who fired first, but it was the "Shot Heard 'Round the World." Both sides opened fire, and the Americans were forced to withdraw. By the time the Redcoats got to Concord, the Americans were waiting for them in force. Paul Reveare said The British are Coming! -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress met in 1775, when the Revolutionary war had started. Things were going badly, and the armed forces were disorganized. The Continental Congress created the Continental Army and named George Washington as commander-in-chief. The Congress continued through the summer. Out of the discussions came the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Marines Corps. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Two-day engagement between British forces under the command of General William Howe and American forces under Colonel William Prescott. The Americans had occupied Breed's Hill in Charlestown on June 16, 1775, in order to protect the shipyard of nearby Boston. The next day, the British attacked. They took the hill but suffered heavy losses. The Americans fired until they were out of ammunition, then quickly retreated. "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes." (Prescott) -
Thomas Paine's Common Sense
He wrote and published the pamphlet "Common Sense" which demanded complete independence from Great Britain. It also stated a strong case against the monarchy and inherited privilege. It was the most widely distributed pamphlet in American history at that time - popular with the highly educated as well as the common man. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence justified the right to revolt against a government, that no longer guaranteed the man's natural and inalienable rights. It helped the Americans to seek and they got increased foreign assistance. It paved the path for France's all-out military, monetary and material intervention on the American side against Britain. -
Battle of Saratoga
Turning point of the Revolutionary War in that it convinced France to enter the war on the side of the Americans. British General John Burgoyne came up with a brilliant plan to take all of New York away from the Americans. -
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Battle of Yorktown
American victory that ended the Revolutionary War on October 20, 1781. British General Charles Cornwallis had met defeat in the south, at Cowpens, and his force had been continually weakened, especially by American General Nathanael Greene at Guilford Courthouse. Cornwallis left the Carolinas and proceeded north to Yorktown, Virginia, there to await reinforcements from General Henry Clinton, who was occupied in the north. -
Treaty of Paris (American Revolution)
Treaty that officially ended the Revolutionary War on September 3, 1783. It was signed in Paris by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay. Under the terms of the treaty, Britain recognized the independent nation of the United States of America. Britain agreed to remove all of its troops from the new nation. The treaty also set new borders for the United States, including all land from the Great Lakes on the north to Florida on the south, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River.
