United States History

The Great Awakening

Jan 1, 1730

The Great Awakening was an unorganized but widespread movement of evangelical Christian sermons and church meetings. It took place in the 1730's and 1740's. It took place because many church leaders that many colonist's dedication to their religion was declining and that the religious commitment of previous generations had been lost. Ministers tried to renew an enthusiasm for religion through emotional and inspiring sermons.

The French and Indian War

Jan 1, 1754

The colinists fought against indians and the French for land. Britian and France were interested in the Ohio Valley and the Great Lakes region. The French wanted to protect their profitable fur trade, while the British wanted part of the fur trade and room for their colonies to expand. The war ended in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris. However, the British gained Canada and and all the French lands east of the Mississippi River.

The Proclamation of 1763

Jan 1, 1763

The Bristish issued the Proclamation of 1763 to prevent the colonists from moving into Indian lands. It banned settlement west of the Appalachian Mountians creating a dividing line between colonial and Indian lands. It ordered coloninists who had already moved to the upper Ohio River valley to "remove themselves from such settlements." The Colonists hated the proclamation. It was difficult to enforce and was ignored by most people who wanted to settle or trade in the Ohio Valley.

Sugar Act

Jan 1, 1764

Parliament passed the Sugar Act to raise money. This was the first law passed by Parliament. It set taxes on molasses and sugar imported by colonists. The colonists hated the Stamp Act.

Stamp Act

Jan 1, 1765

This was the second law passed by Parliament. It required the colonists to pay for an official stamp, or seal, whenever they bought paper items such as newspapers, pamphlets, licences, legal documents, and even playing cards. The colonists hated this law. Colonists who refused to buy stamps could be tried in the hated Vice-Admiralty courts. The colonists saw the Stamp Act as a way for Britian to make money.

Townshend Acts

Jan 1, 1767

This law from Parliament placed duties on imported glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. Again, colonists hated the law. To enforce this act, British customs agents used writs of assistance (special search warrents) to search for smuggled goods. But Britain had been unable to control the smuggling throughout the colonies. The law also created Vice-Admiralty courts in which to try smugglers. Many colonists thought that the Townshend Acts took too much power away from colonial courts (cont.)

Townshend Acts (Part 2)

Jan 2, 1767

and legislatures and gave it to royal officials. They feared these officials didn't have the best interest of the colonists in heart. The colonists responded to the Townshend Actswith a large-scale boycott of British goods. Samuel Adams wrote a letter arguing that the Townshend Acts violate the legal rights of the colonists.

The Boston Massacre

Mar 5, 1770

British soldiers (red coats) shot five colonists in a fight. Bostonians referred to the killings as "The Boston Massacre." Samuel Adams and other protestors quickly began using the incident as propaganda against the British. Paul Revere made an engraving of the incident that was distributed throughout New England.

Tea Act

Jan 1, 1773

Parliament passed the Tea Act 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. Colonists in Philadelphia and New York turned the tea ships back to Britain. In Charleston the cargo was left to rot on the docks. In Boston the Royal Governor was stubborn, he held the ships in port, where the colonists would not allow them to unload.

The Boston Tea Party

Nov 1, 1773

Three ships loaded with tea arrived in Boston Harbor in November, 1773. The Sons of Liberty demanded that the ships leave without unloading their cargos. The governer of Massachusetts ordered they be unloaded. The captains, afraid that the Sons of Liberty would would be angered, decided to lay their ships at anchor in the harbor for weeks. On the night of December 16, a group of colonists disguised as indians crept onto each of the ships. After dumping 90,000 pounds of tea into the (cont.)

The Boston Tea Party (Part 2)

Nov 2, 1773

Boston Harbor, the colonists headed home to remove their disguises. As word of this "Boston Tea Party" spread, the streets echoed with shouts of "Boston Harbor is a teapot tonight!"

Intolerable Acts

Jan 1, 1774

When Lord North, the new British prime minister, heard about the Boston Tea Party, he was furious. As punishment for the Boston Tea Party, in the spring of 1774 Parliament passed the Coerciup Acts, which colonists called the "Intolerable Acts." The first law stated that there will be no use of Boston Harbor until Boston paid off the cost for all the destroyed tea. The second law canceled the Massachusetts charter and gave the colony a legislature that met only when and where the (cont.)

Intolerable Acts (Part 2)

Jan 2, 1774

governer commanded. The third law moved the trials of royal officials to Britian, where they would get a more sympathetic judge and jury. The fourth law was the Quartering Act which required colonists to quarter, or house and supply, British soldiers. Mercy Otis Warren wrote several critical essays, poems, and plays to criticize the British government's actions. Many other colonists did this too.

The Battle of Lexington/Concord (Part 1 - Lexington [Cont.])

Apr 18, 1775

"shot heard round the world," but when the soldiers heard it, the fight began. It was over in ten minutes. Colonists had eight dead and ten wounded.

The Battle of Lexington/Concord (Part 2 - Concord [Cont.])

Apr 18, 1775

British reached Boston, they had suffered more than two hundred and fifty casualties.

The Battle of Lexington/Concord (Part 1 - Lexington)

Apr 18, 1775

On the evening of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere and William Dawes recieved word that the British were crossing the Charles River to march toward Concord. The two men hopped on their horses and rode through the countryside warning Minutemen that "the British are coming!" On the morning of April 19, fewer than seventy Minutemen met a much larger force of British troops at the Lexington village green, near Concord. Suddenly, a shot rang out. To this day, no one knows who fired this (cont.)

The Battle of Lexington/Concord (Part 2 - Concord)

Apr 18, 1775

The British marched on to Concord, where militia members had supposedly stored muskets. They didn't find many weapons, because the colonists had already hidden them somewhere elsewhere. In anger, some British soldiers set fire to a few buildings. When one of colonists shouted "Will you let them burn the town down?" Isaac Davis responded, "No, I havn't a man who is afraid to go," and the Minutemen charged forward. The British retreated, Minutemen fired at them. By the time the (cont.)

The Battle of Bunker Hill (Part 2)

Jun 1, 1775

and Bread's Hill. When the British awoke on June 17, they were shocked to see the colonial forces secured the hills. The redcoats mounted a frontal assault on the colonists. Most of the fighting took place on Bread's Hill. Although British gained control of the hill, they had suffered over 1,000 casualties compared to some 400 colonists.

The Battle of Buner Hill

Jun 17, 1775

This was a moral victory for the colonists. It demonstrated that, despite superior British firepower, they could withstand a frontal assault from the British army. After the Battle of Concord, British withdrew to Boston, where Minutemen surrounded the city, they held Boston under siege. In mid-June 1775, the British prepared to secure Charlestown which overlooks Boston from across it's northern harbor. Warned of the plan, colonial forces dug defensive trenches atop nearby Bunker Hill (cont.)

Common Sense

Jan 1, 1776

The pamphlet from Thomas Paine, Common Sense, argued for breaking away from Great Britian. Within three months, colonists had bought around 120,000 copies. Eventually, sales throughout the colonies reached 500,000 copies.

The Declaration of Independence

Jun 1, 1776

This was the document that stated the United States was going to seperate from Great Britian. It stated the self-evident truths, purposes of government, reasons for changing government, list of grievences, and the rights of the soverign states.

The Battle of Saratoga

Oct 17, 1777

British forces made their way through New York, their badly outnumbered troops clashed with the Patriots at the Battle of Saratoga. British suffered a major defeat to the Patriots.

The Battle of Yorktown

Oct 19, 1781

General Cornwallis moved his Patriot forces to Yorktown. The British hed it under siege, they were going to attack, but Cornwallis feared a bloody defeat and surendered.

The Treaty of Paris

Jan 1, 1783

This established British recognition of the United States. It also laid out the new nation's border: the Great Lakes to the north, the Mississippi River to the west, and 31 North latitude to the south. In addition, the British formally accepted American rights to settle and trade west of the original 13 colonies.