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French and Indian War
French and Indian War• This was the war of England and the American colonies, and when the war ended France was no longer in control of Canada. When Major George Washington came upon a French scouting party, Washington ordered his men to open fire, Washington's men killed 12 and wounded 22. General Braddock tried to capture Fort Duquesne. A smaller French and Indian force succeeded in defeating the British force and General -
Stamp Act
Stamp Act• The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. The money collected by the Stamp Act was to be used to help pay the costs of defending and protecting the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains
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Townshed Act
Townshend Act• An act for granting certain duties in the British colonies and plantations in America; for allowing a drawback of the duties of customs upon the exportation, from this kingdom, of coffee and cocoa nuts of the produce of the said colonies or plantations; for discontinuing the drawbacks payable on china earthen ware exported to America; and for more effectually preventing the clandestine running of goods in the colonies and plantations. -
Boston Massacre
Boston Massacre• The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers. Several colonists were killed and this led to a campaign by speech-writers to rouse the ire of the citizenry. The presence of British troops in the city of Boston was increasingly unwelcome. The riot began when about 50 citizens attacked a British sentinel. -
Tea Act
Tea Act• The Tea Act, passed by Parliament on May 10, 1773, would launch the final spark to the revolutionary movement in Boston. The act was not intended to raise revenue in the American colonies, and in fact imposed no new taxes. It was designed to prop up the East India Company which was floundering financially and burdened with eighteen million pounds of unsold tea. This tea was to be shipped directly to the colonies, and sold at a bargain price. -
Boston Tea Party
Boston Tea Party• The British East India Company had controlled all tea trading between India and the British colonies. As a result of the tea tax, the colonies refused to buy the British tea. Instead, they smuggled tea in from Holland. This left the British East India Company with warehouses full of unsold tea, and the company was in danger of going out of business. The British government was determined to prevent the British East India Company from going out of business. -
Coercive Act
Coercive Act• Properly known as the Restraining Acts, the Coercive Acts, as they were popularly known in England, were introduced in 1774 by the new government of Lord North, who acted with the direct encouragement of George III. Several voices of caution had been raised in Parliament, particularly those of Edmund Burke and Lord Chatham, who feared that stern measures were charting a course no one really wanted to follow; their advice, however, was not heeded. -
First Continental Congress
Petition sent to King George III demanding the rights of the colonits as Englishmen to be restored, exteded the boycott of British Groups agreed to the following year if their demands were not met. -
Lexington and Concord
Lexington and Concord• The first shots starting the revolution were fired at Lexington, Massachusetts. On April 18, 1775, British General Thomas Gage sent 700 soldiers to destroy guns and ammunition the colonists had stored in the town of Concord, just outside of Boston. They also planned to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, two of the key leaders of the patriot movement. -
Revolutionary War
Revolutionary War• The Americans believed that they were entitled to the full democratic rights of Englishmen. The British believed that the American colonies were just colonies, to be used and exploited in whatever way best suited Great Britain. These two conflicting views made war inevitable. -
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Second Continental Congress
Declares independance on July 4th, 1776 and conducts a successful war for independance. -
Publication Of Common Sense
Thomas Paine calls for complete independence from great Britian -
Treaty of Paris
Great Britain recognizes American independance with a western border of the missisippi River -
Constitutional Convention
Constitutional Convention• He Convention convened on May 25, 1787, at the State House (now Independence Hall) in Philadelphia. It opened eleven days later than planned because of the slow arrival of some delegates. All of the states were represented except for Rhode Island, which declined to attend. Washington, noted for his patience and fairness, was selected as the presiding officer. In all, 55 delegates attended.
