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The French and Indian War was between the French and Great Britain in the mid 1700s. The French and Great Britain fought three wars beforehand. After six peaceful years, it quickly spread overseas and jump started again, this time the Native Americans were included. This made the hatred between Britain and the colonies even worse.
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John Locke was a key English philosopher from the Enlightenment and believed that people should have natural rights to life, liberty and property. The people must follow the government rules and the government cannot take away these rights. If the rights were violated by the government, the citizens have the right to fight back and possibly overthrow the government.
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The writ of assistance was a general search warrant that gave permission to the British officials to come and search colonists' homes to assure of a smuggling free area.
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The Treaty of Paris was made for the purpose of ending the French and Indian war. The treaty gave Spain the permission to have all of the land west to the Mississippi River. Great Britain claimed Canada and most of the land east to the Mississippi River. France was given a few islands and colonies.
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The Proclamation of 1763 created a line following along the Appalachian Mountains, in which the colonists were unable to cross. Although many colonists wanted to expand and find new land, so they wouldn't follow the proclamation and invade the Native Americans' land.
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George Grenville created the Sugar Acts in hope to pay off the debt from the war. The Sugar act included three main purposes. It decreased the price of foreign made molasses, hoping that people would rather pay cheaper than steal. It also placed taxes on items that previously were not taxed. The colonists were unhappy with the changes, since it would include more taxes and less profit for the merchants.
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The stamp act created a tax on documents, and printed items, including newspapers and playing cards. It was the first tax provided directly to the colonists because it was put onto goods and services.
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There was a secret group made of shopkeepers and merchants, whom called themselves the Sons of Liberty, which protested the stamp act. Samuel Adams was one of the main founders of the Sons of Liberty and lead them to boycott against British goods.
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The declaratory act gave the right to combine colonies and all people of America in any circumstances. This act was passed on the same day as the stamp act.
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The act was named after Charles Townshend who was the leading government minister at the time. The act axed goods imported from Britain, for example can be lead, glass, paint, or paper. It also taxed on tea which was the most popular drink of the colonies. It was repealed, except for the tax on tea, due to the fact that the taxes didn't raise enough money to pay for sending British troops to Boston.
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In front of the Boston Customs House, there are British soldiers guarding the House. A mod full of colonists taunted the soldiers, which made the soldiers mad enough to shoot. Many shots were fired and five colonists, including Crispus Attucks was killed or badly wounded.
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The tea act was made to save the British East India company from going into bankruptcy. The act gave the right to sell its tea free of taxes, which cuts out colonial merchants that sells tea.
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Many of the American colonists did not like the Tea act so they decided to act dramatically. A group of Boston rebels dressed up as Native Americans and took action against three British tea ships. They dumped 18,000 pounds of tea into the water of the Boston Harbor.
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King George III pressured the Parliament to pass a few laws. This included shutting down the Boston harbor. They also told British commanders to become house soldiers in empty houses. At the time, General Thomas Gage became the new governor of Massachusetts.
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In Philadelphia, 56 delegates met and created a declaration of colonial rights. This defended the colonies and allowed the colonies to fight back against the British.
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Minutemen are soldiers, mainly previous civilians, who pledged to fight against the British on last minute notices. They would all hide their weapons and gunpowder. Soon, general Thomas Gage found out and ordered troops to find and take away the illegal weapons.
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In the second meeting of colonial leaders, they endlessly debated about calling for independence or reconciliation with Great Britain.
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The Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as Continental Army and George Washington as the commander.
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The loyalists were people who are against the independence of America and are loyal to the British king. Some loyalists can include judges, governors and those working for the British. Patriots are supporters of the fight for America's independence. These people believe that America should have its independence and see political and economic opportunity.
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The Battle of Lexington only lasted 15 min and was a war between 70 minutemen and hundreds of British soldiers. Only one British soldier was injured, but 8 minutemen were killed and 10 were injured.
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By the time the British soldiers arrived at Concord, there were between 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers lined up and ready to fight. The British soldiers were killed by the dozen, outnumbered and slaughtered. The surviving soldiers marched back to Boston and soon the colonists were enemies of Britain.
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The Battle of Bunker Hill is known to be one of the most deadly battles in the war. Thomas Gage decided to fire against the militiamen and sent 2,400 soldiers to fight. The colonists had lost 450 men and the British suffered with over 1,000 casualties.
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The Olive Branch Petition asked for peace between Britain and the colonies but was rejected by King George with no compromise.
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The Common Sense was a 50 page pamphlet, written by Thomas Paine that attacked against King George and the monarchy. Paine argued to go against the King and his laws. He declared for independence for America and to allow America to trade freely. He asked for a better society and was appreciated by many.
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The final draft was written by Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration of Independence gave the colonies freedom and independence in the States. It declared the natural rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and should never be taken away. It declare that all men were created equal and were all given the same rights from birth. On July 2nd, all colonies were voted unanimously to be free and on the 4th they adopted the Declaration of Independence to be free from Britain.
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In late fall of 1776, The British armies pushed washington's army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. Washington's army was in lack of needed equipment and was poorly trained.
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On Christmas night, Washington decided to give a surprise attack. He led 2,400 men to fight in small rowboats across the Delaware River and marched their way to Trenton, New Jersey. The British were left unprepared and lost the battle.
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The Americans attacked Burgoyne and he surrendered. Burgoyne thought that his men were available to fight off the colonial troops, but they were preoccupied by Philadelphia. So the American troops soon surrounded him and led him to surrender.
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During the alliance between the French and Americans, Washington's Continental Army was extremely low of food and supplies and had to fight to stay alive during the winter at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Over 2,000 soldiers died but the survivors decided to stay.
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Friedrich von Steuben is a Prussian captain and a well trained drill sergeant. He helped train the Continental Army. Marquis de Lafayette was also a foreign military leader and helped train the Continental Army. Lafayette lobbied the French for reinforcements in 1779 and led in Virginia for the last few years of the war.
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British had two successful victories, one in Savannah, Georgia and another in Charles Town, South Carolina. At the end of 1778, during a British expedition, the British easily conquered the land. While under General Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis, the British continued to conquer Charles Town in May of 1780.
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After the surrender, in 1778, the French signed an alliance with the Americans and joined them to fight.
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The colonists continue to battle Cornwallis, although defeated multiple times. The British continue down towards Virginia. Cornwallis led 7,500 men to battle between the James and York rivers. In late September, about 17,000 French and American troops border around the British and fired all day and night. On October 19,1781, Cornwallis surrenders.
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The Treaty of Paris confirms the independence of America and lays down the laws of the new country. At this time, America is from the Atlantic ocean to the Mississippi River, and from Florida to the Canada border. The American committee includes John Adams, John Jay and Benjamin Franklin.
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The American Revolutionary War lasted for eight years starting from April 1775 and ending until September 1783.
During the war, most people in America didn't take a side and were called "fence sitters." Which meant they did not support the Americans or British.
About 25,000 American Patriots died during the battles, mainly from diseases from unsanitary prisoners of warship.
