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French and Indian War
During the late 17th and first half of the 18th centuries, France and Great Britain were in a war for the land in America but this specific war happened because there was conflict in who was going to take over the Ohio River Valley, They both wanted it to expand there settlements into the area. It created tension because that river connected to a lot of other areas up to Canada. -
Writ of Assistance
In 1761, the royal governor of Massachusetts authorized the use of the writs of assistance, a general search warrant that allowed British customs officials to enter and search colonial homes whether there was evidence of smuggling or not. It happened because they wanted to ensure that merchants were not doing business in any French-held territories. The tension was between Britain and Massachusetts. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1763 which officially ended the war. Great Britain claimed Canada and virtually all of North of America east of the Mississippi River. Britain also took Florida from Spain, which had allied itself with France. The treaty let Spain keep there possessions of its lands west of the Mississippi and the city of New Orleans. France retained control of only a few islands and small colonies near Newfoundland, in the West Indies, and elsewhere. -
Proclamation
The Proclamation of 1763 established a Proclamation Line along the Appalachians, which the colonists were not allowed to cross. They did this to avoid costly conflicts with Native Americans. Although the colonists were eager to expand westward so they ignored the proclamation and continued to stream onto Native American lands because of the increasingly crowded Atlantic Seaboard. -
Sugar Act & Colonists Response
The British realized that smuggling was close to endemic and that the rule of law was being undermined by illegal trade.Sugar Act did 3 things,it 1/2 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.3 it provided that colonists accused of violating the act would be tried in a court.Colonial merchants complained that the Sugar Act would reduce their profits. -
Stamp Act & Colonists
In March 1765 Parliament passed the Stamp Act. This act imposed a tax on documents and printed items such as wills, newspaper, and playing cards. A stamp would be placed on the items to prove that the tax had been paid. It was the first tax that affected colonists directly because it was levied on goods and services before it was viewed as measures to regulate commerce. Previous taxes had been indirect, involving duties and imports. -
Declaratory Act
In March on the same day that it repealed the Stamp Act, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act, and was passed by the British parliament to affirm its power to legislate for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever”. The declaration stated that Parliament's authority was the same in America as in Britain and asserted Parliament's authority to pass laws that were binding on the American colonies. They did that because colonists refused to comply with the act. -
Sons of Liberty is formed & Samuel Adams
Sons of Liberty was formed in 1767 after the Townshend Acts. The Colonists again boycotted British goods, Samuel Adams leading.The Sons of Liberty was a secret organization that was created in the Thirteen American Colonies to advance the rights of the European colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It created tension because of the Stamp Act was made. -
Townshend Acts & Colonists Response
Parliament passed the Townshed Acts, named after Charles Townshend, the leading government minister. The Townshend Acts were a series of laws passed by the British government on the American colonies in 1767. They placed new taxes and took away some freedoms from the colonists including: New taxes on imports of paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea. It happened because the British didn't have enough money to supply their own people from the other war that just happened. It caused tension. -
John Locke's Social Contract
Locke believed that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property. It was an agreement in which people consent to choose and obey a government so long as it safeguards their natural rights. If the government violates that social contract by taking away/interfering with those rights, people have the right to resist and even overthrow the government. The topic of liberty was getting more and more implemented -
Boston Massacre
A group of Rhode Island colonists attacked a British customs schooner that patrolled the coast for smugglers.The Boston Massacre, known to the British as the Incident on King Street, was a confrontation on March 5, 1770 in which British soldiers shot and killed several people while being harassed by a mob in Boston. It happened because the colonists were protesting and It got out of hand. Thats when the American Revolution started. -
Tea Act
The passing of the Tea Act imposed no new taxes on the American colonies. The act granted the company the right to ship its tea directly to the colonies without first landing it in England.The principal objective was to reduce the massive amount of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses and to help the financially struggling company survive. The colonists were not happy. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts. The boston rebels dumped a bunch of tea to the sea, to get back at the British, led by Samuel Adams. They disguised themselves as "native americans" they dumped 18,000 pounds of tea into the waters of Boston harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest in reaction to changes in taxation. One law shut down Boston harbor, other one gave the British rights to enter their houses. In addition to these measures, General Thomas Gage, commander in chief of Britain was appointed the new governor of Massachusetts to keep the peace. -
First Continental Congress Meets
Delegates from each of the 13 colonies except for Georgia,met in Philadelphia as the First Continental Congress to organize colonial resistance to Parliament's Coercive Acts. 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
Minutemen were civilian colonists who independently organized to form well-prepared militia companies self-trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies from the American colonial partisan militia during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice. After the first continental congress they stepped up military preparations, they were ready to fight the British on a minutes notice. But the General heard and order to seize illegal weapons. -
Battle of Lexington
Were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were warned the day before by Paul Revere, Dawes, Prescott. . Eight minutemen were killed and ten more were wounded, but only one British solider was injured. It only lasted 15 minutes. We don't know who shot the first shot. -
Battle of Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. Between 3,000 and 4,000 minutemen had assembled by now... British soldiers fell by the dozen. The British soldiers made their way back to Boston that night. Colonists had become enemies of Britain and now held Boston and its encampment of British troops under seige. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was the governing body of the American colonies. It was founded when the British failed to address the grievances of the First Continental Congress and to organize a Continental Army to fight. Some delegates called for independence, while others argued 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. -
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the ex-British colonies that became the United States of America. Some delegates called for independence, while others argued 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. -
Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 5, 1775 and signed on July 8 in a final attempt to avoid war between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies in America. King George flatly rejected the petition, and he issued a proclamation stating that the colonies were in rebellion and urged parliament order a naval blockade to isolate a line of ships meant for the American coast. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Thomas Gage sent 2,400 British soldiers up the hill. By the time the smoke cleared, the colonists has lost 450 men, while the British had suffered over 1,000 casualties. This Battle would prove to be the deadliest battle of the war. Colonists won. King George issued a proclamation starting that the colonies were in rebellion and urged 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
As part of a plan to stop the rebellion by isolating New England, the British quickly attempted to seize NYCity, They sailed 32,000 soldiers to New York harbor in the summer of 1776. They included thousands of germans or hired. Although the Continental Army attempted to defend NY in aug. the untrained colonial troops soon retreated. By late fall, the British had pushed Washington's army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. -
Loyalists and Patriots
As the war began, Americans found themselves on different sides of the conflict. Loyalists : those who opposed independence and remained loyal to the British king included judges and governors, as well as people of more modest means and Patriots: the supporters of independence drew their numbers from people who saw political and economic opportunity in an independent America. -
Publication of Common Sense
Paine marshaled moral and political arguments to encourage common people in the Colonies to fight for egalitarian government. Paine attacked King George and the monarchy. Paine declared that independence would give American colonists the chance to create a better society one free from tyranny, with equal and social opportunities. Washington wrote: I find it working a powerful change in the minds of many men. -
Declaration of Independence
Author: Thomas Jefferson. Statements: "these United Colonists are, and of a right ought to be, free and independent states.", this consent gives people the right "to alter or abolish." "all men are created equal." Jefferson referred to these rights as "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Date of adoption: July 4,1776. -
Washington's Christmas night surprise attack
Desperate for an early victory, Washington risked everything on one bold stroke set for Christmas night, 1776. In a fierce storm, he led 2,4000 men in small rowboats across the ice-choked Delaware River. Then they marched to Trenton, New Jersey and defeated a garrison of Hessians in a surprise attack. The British soon regrouped and in Sept. of 1777, they captured the American Capital at Philly. -
Saratoga
General John Burgoyne planned to lead an army down a route of lakes from Canada to Albany, where he would meet British troops as they arrived from NYC. The two regiments would then join forces to isolate New England from the rest of the colonies. While he was fighting off the colonial troops, Burg. didn't realize that his fellow British officers were preoccupied w/ holding Philly. and weren't coming. American troops finally surrounded Burgoyne at Saratoga, where he surrendered. French lost hope. -
Valley Forge
While this hopeful turn of events took place in Paris, 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
After the victory at Saratoga France believed that the Americans could win the war. As a result, the French signed an alliance with the Americans in February 1778 and openly joined them in their fight. -
Friedrich von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette
In Feb 1778, in the midst of winter at Valley Forge, American troops began an amazing transformation. Friedrich von Steuben a Prussian captain and talented drill-master, helped to train the Continental Army. A French military leader, Marquis de L. also arrived to offer his help. L lobbied France for French reinforcements. in 1779 and led a command in Virginia in the last years of the war. With the help of European military leaders, the raw cont. army became an effective fighting force. -
British victories in the South
After the defeat in Saratoga, the British began to shift to the South. 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 Corn. continued to conquer land throughout the South. In early 1781, despite several defeats, the colonists finally turned back Charles-foiling his efforts to take the Carolinas. The General then chose to move the fight to Virginia. -
British surrender at Yorktown
After learning of Corwallis actions, the armies of Lafayette and Washington moves south toward Yorktown. Meanwhile, a French naval force defeated a British fleet and then blocked the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, thereby obstructing British sea routes to the bay. By mid Sept. about 17,000 French and American troops surrounded the British on the Yorktown Peninsula and began bombarding them. On Oct. 19 Cornwallis finally surrendered, The Americans had shocked the world and defeated the British. -
Treaty of Paris
The American negotiating team included John Adams, John Jay of New York, and Benjamin Franklin. In September 1783, the delegates signed the Treaty of Paris, which confirmed US independence and set the boundaries of the new nation. The US now stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from Canada to the Florida Border.
