-
French and Indian War
. In 1754, after six relatively peaceful years, the French-British conflict reignited.One major area of contention between France and Great Britain was the rich Ohio River Valley just west of Pennsylvania and Virginia.In 1754, the French built Fort Dusquesne in the region despite the fact that the Virginian government had already granted 20000 acres of land in the Ohio country to a group of wealthy planters. In response, the Virginia governor sent militia to evict the French. -
John Locke's Social Contract
One of the key Enlightenment thinkers was English philosopher John Locke. Locke maintained that the people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property. Furthermore, he contended, every society is based on a social contract - an agreement in which the people consent to choose and obey a government so long as it safeguards their natural rights. If the government violates the social contract by taking away or interfering with those rights, people have the right to resist. -
Writ of Assistance
The royal governor of Massachusetts authorized the use of writs of assistance, a general search warrant that allowed British customs officials to search any colonial ship or building they believed to be holding goods. The writs enabled British officials to enter and search colonial homes whether there was evidence of smuggling or not. -
Treaty of Paris
The French Indian war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Great Britain claimed claimed Canada and virtually all of North America east of Mississippi. Britain also took Florida from Spain, which has allied itself with France. The treaty permitted Spain to keep possession of its lands west of Mississippi and the city of New Orleans. France retained control of only a few islands and small colonies near Newfoundland. -
Proclamation of 1763
To avoid further costly conflicts with Native Americans, the British government prohibited colonists from settling west of Appalachian Mountains. The Proclamation established a line along the Appalachians, which the colonists were not allowed to cross. -
Sugar Acts and Colonists Response
The Sugar Act halved the duty on foreign-made molasses in the hopes that colonists would pay a lower tax rather than risk arrest by smuggling. It placed duties on certain imports that had not been taxed before. Most important, it provided that colonists accused of violating the act would be tried in a vice-admiralty court rather than a colonial court. Merchants complained that the Sugar Act would reduce their profits. They also claimed that Parliament had no right to tax the colonists -
Stamp Acts & colonists response
The act imposed a tax on documents and printed items such as wills, newspaper and playing cards. A stamp would be placed on items to prove that the tax has been paid. It was the first tax that affected colonists directly because it was levied on goods and services. -
Declaratory Act
On the same day Parliament repealed the stamp act, they passed the Declaratory Act, which asserted they're full right "to bind the colonies and people of America in all cases whatsoever." -
Sons of Liberty is formed & Samuel Adams
Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, which taxed goods that were imported into the colony from Britain. Led by Samuel Adams, one of the founder of the Sons of Liberty, the colonists boycotted British goods. -
Boston Massacre
A mob gathered in front of Bostons Customs House and taunted the British soldiers standing guard there. Shots were fired and 5 colonists, including Crispus Attucks, were killed or mortally wounded. -
Townshend Acts & colonists response. Why they were repealed
The Townshend Acts taxed goods that were imported to the colony from Britain.It repealed when Lord Frederick North, prime minister, realized it was costing more to enforce than it would ever bring in. -
Tea Act
Lord North devised the Tea Act to save the nearly bankrupt British India East Company. The act granted the company the right to sell tea to the colonies free of taxes that colonial tea sellers had to pay, This action would have cut colonial merchants out of the tea trade bye enabling the East India Company to sell its tea directly to consumers for less. -
Boston Tea Party
A large group of Boston rebels disguised themselves as Native Americans and proceeded to take action against three British tea ships anchored in the harbor. In this incident, the 'Indians' dumpec 18000 pounds of East India Company's tea into the waters of the Boston harbor -
First Continental Congress Meets
In response to Britain's actions, the committees of correspondence assembled the First Continental Congress. 56 delegates met in Philadelphia and drew up a declaration of colonial rights. They defended the colonies' right to run their own affairs and stated that, if the British used force against the colonies, the colonies should fight back. -
Minutemen
After the First Continental Congress met, colonists in many eastern New England towns stepped up military preparations. Minutemen- civilian soldiers who pledged to be ready to fight against British on a minute's notice - quietly stockpiled firearms and gunpowder. General Thomas Gage soon learned about these activities. In 1775, he ordered troops to march from Boston to nearby Concord, Massachusetts and to seize illegal weapons -
Intolerable Acts
After infuriated King George 2 pressed parliament to act. Parliament responded by passing a series of measures that colonists called the Intolerable Acts. One law shut down Boston harbor. Another, the Quartering Act, authorized British commanders to house soldiers in vacant private homes and other buildings. In addition to these measures, General Thomas Gage, commander-in-chief of British forced in North America, was appointed the new governor of Massachusetts. -
Midnight Riders: Rever, Dawes, Prescott
At night, Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott rode out to spread word that 700 British troops were headed for Concord. The darkened countryside rang with church bells and gunshots- prearranged signals that the British were coming. -
Battle of Concord
The British marched onto Concord, where they found an empty arsenal. After a brief skirmish with the minutemen, the British soldiers lined up to march back to Boston, but the march quickly became a slaughter. Between 3000 and 4000 minutemen had assembled by now, and they fired on the marching troops from behind the stone walls and trees. British soldiers fell by a dozen. Bloodied and humiliated, the remaining British soldiers made their way back to Boston that night -
Battle of Lexington
The king's troops reached Lexington Massachusetts, 5 miles short of Concord at dawn. As they neared the town, 70 minutemen were in lines on the village green. The British commander ordered the minutemen to lay down on their arms and leave, and colonists began to move out without laying them. Someone fired and the British soldiers sent a volley of shots into the militia. 8 minutemen were killed and 10 more were wounded, but only one British solder was injured. It lasted 15 minutes -
Continental Army
After the Second Continental Congress, they decided to agree to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army. -
Second Continental Congress
Colonial leaders called the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia to debate their next move. The loyalties that divided colonists sparked endless debates at the Second Continental Congress. Some delegates called for independence, while others argues for reconciliation with Great Britain. Despite such differences, the Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Cooped up in Boston, British general Thomas Gage decided to strike militiamen on Breed's Hill, north of the city and near Bunker Hill. Gage sent 2400 British soldiers up the hill. The colonists held their fire until the last minute and then began to mow down the advancing redcoats before finally retreating. By the time the smoke cleared, the colonists had lost 450 men, while the British had suffered over 1000 casualties. -
Olive Branch Petition
Congress sent the king the so-called Olive Branch Petition, urging a return "the former harmony" between Britain and the colonies. King George flatly rejected the petition. Furthermore, he issued a proclamation stating the colonies were in rebellion and urged the Parliament to order a naval blockade to isolate a line of ships meant for the American coast. -
Redcoats push Washington's army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania
The
British sailed into New York harbor in the summer of 1776 with a force of about
32,000 soldiers. Although the Continental Army attempted to defend New York in late
August, the untrained and poorly equipped colonial troops soon retreated.
By late fall, the British had pushed Washington’s army across the Delaware
River into Pennsylvania -
Publication of Common Sense
In a widely read 50-page pamphlet titled Common Sense, Paine attacked King George and the monarchy. Paine, a recent immigrant, argued that responsibility for the British tyranny lay with "the loyal brute of Britain". Paine explained that his own revolt against the King had begun with Lexington and Concord. It sold nearly 500000 copies and was widely applauded. -
Washington's Christmas night surprise attack
Desperate for an early victory, Washington risked everything on one bold stroke set for Christmas night, 1776. In the face of a fierce storm, he led 2,400 men in small rowboats across the ice-choked Delaware River. They then marched to their objective—Trenton, New Jersey—and defeated a garrison of Hessians in a surprise attack. -
Loyalists and Patriots
Americans found themselves on different sides of the conflict. Loyalists opposed independence and remained loyal to the British king. Patriots—the supporters of independence—were people who saw political & economic opportunity in America. African Americans fought on the side of the Patriots, others joined the Loyalists because the British promised freedom to slaves who would fight for the Crown. Native Americans supported the British bc they viewed colonial settlers as a greater threat. -
Declaration of Independence
Congress appointed a committee to prepare a formal Declaration of Independence. Jefferson declared the rights of “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” to be “unalienable” rights. Jefferson then asserted that a government’s legitimate power can only come from the consent of the governed, and that when a government denies their unalienable rights, the people have the right to “alter or abolish” that government. American colonies declared their independence from Britain -
Saratoga
General John Burgoyne planned to lead an army from Canada to Albany, where he would meet British troops.The two regiments would then join forces to isolate New England from the rest of the colonies.Burgoyne didn’t realize that his fellow British officers weren’t coming to meet him American troops surrounded Burgoyne at Saratoga, where he surrendered. French had secretly aided the Patriots since early 1776,Saratoga victory-France’s belief that Americans could win the war.French signed an alliance -
Valley Forge
Washington and his Continental Army—desperately low on food and supplies—fought to stay alive at winter camp in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. More than 2,000 soldiers died, yet the survivors didn’t desert. Their endurance and suffering
filled Washington’s letters to the Congress and his friends. -
French- American Alliance
The surrender at Saratoga turned out to be one of the most important events of the war. Although the French had secretly aided the Patriots since early 1776, the Saratoga victory bolstered France’s belief that the Americans could win the war. As a result, the French signed an alliance with the Americans in February -
Friedrich von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette
Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian captain and talented drill- master, helped to train the Continental Army. Other for- eign military leaders, such as the Marquis de Lafayette, also arrived to offer their help. Lafayette lobbied France for French reinforcements in 1779, and led a command in Virginia in the last years of the war. With the help of such European military leaders, the raw Continental Army became an effective fighting force. -
British victories in the South
At the end of 1778, a British expedition easily took Savannah, Georgia. In their greatest victory of the war, the British under Generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis captured Charles Town, South Carolina, in May 1780. Clinton then left for New York, while Cornwallis continued to conquer land throughout the South. -
British surrender at Yorktown
Shortly after learning of Corwallis’s actions, the armies of Lafayette and Washington moved south toward Yorktown. Meanwhile, a French naval force defeated a British fleet and then blocked the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, obstructing British sea routes to the bay. Less than a month later, on October 19, 1781, Cornwallis finally surrendered. The Americans had shocked the world and defeated the British. -
Treaty of Paris
Peace talks began in Paris in 1782. The American negotiating team includ- ed John Adams, John Jay of New York, and Benjamin Franklin. In September 1783, the delegates signed the Treaty of Paris, which confirmed U.S. inde- pendence and set the boundaries of the new nation. The United States now stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from Canada to the Florida border.
