-
French and Indian War
The French and Indian war started in the year 1754, and ended in the year 1763. This war happened due to the British and French fighting over who would get to claim and own the Ohio River Valley. Both people wanted this because it had a lot of farmland, and had the three rivers. In the beginning the French were winning most of the war because they got many of the British's land. Even though the French were winning in the beginning, the British ultimately won the war. -
French and Indian War 2
The British won the war due to them winning a lot of the French's land. This land that they won was land that they tried to get many times in the beginning. The only reason they were so successful at the end was due to a new general named William Pitt. This war had one major negative effect on the British though, and that was that they caused the French to want to get revenge, causing them to try and go to war with the British again, also they were in debt due to the war. -
Treaty of Paris 1763
The Treaty of Paris was something signed by both France and Britain. This document made France surrender almost all of its territory to Great Britain. This was good for the British because they gained a lot of land from France, including French Canada, and all French territory east of the Mississippi except for New Orleans causing Britain to have more farmland. France has a bad outcome from this because they lost almost all of their land making them not be able to help the Native Americans. -
Pontiac's War
Pontiac's war was when the leader of the Ottawa nation, named Pontiac formed an alliance of western Native Americans. This alliance attacked British forts and settlements in May of 1763. This war was fought because the Native Americans were trying to get more land for farming, because they were reduced to a little bit of land because they had to move west of the Appalachian Mountains. In order to get more land they needed to kill British and French settlers and settlements. -
Pontiac's war 2
Pontiac's war gets it's name because the leader of this war was named Pontiac, so they named the war Pontiac's War. Pontiac's war affects the colonies because nearly half a dozen British forts were destroyed, along with at least 2,000 settlers from the backcountry were killed. -
Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was a law that was established that way there would be no more wars with the Native Americans. The Proclamation of 1763 said that Native Americans were to stay on the west side of the Appalachian Mountains, and colonial settlers had to stay on the east side of the Appalachian Mountains. The purpose of this law was to prevent further wars with the Native Americans. The colonists didn't like this law, so they ignored the law so the British couldn't enforce the law. -
Sugar Act
The sugar act was a law that tried to put an import tax on several products, including molasses. This law also called for harsh punishment on smugglers during the sugar act. This act was passed because the British were deep in debt due to the French and Indian war, and they wanted to add taxes to help pay off the debt. The colonists didn't like this law, so they protested, and didn't but molasses. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was an unpopular law that was passed by Parliament that required colonists to pay special taxes on all products from paper to food. The colonists had no choice if they wanted to pay the taxes or not, because the tax stamps were already on the products. Parliament passed this law because they had to raise money to pay off the war debt that they had. The colonists didn't like this law, so they protested it by writing and signing petitions, and organizing boycotts. -
Stamp Act 2
These protests caused them to not use British products, and made Parliament repeal the Stamp Act. There wasn't really a difference between how they reacted, because they both protested the laws. One difference was that their protests worked to repeal the Stamp Act. The colonists fought back against the Stamp Act by protesting, and not using British products that had the taxes on them. This action caused Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act was a law passed about one year after the Sugar Act was passed. This law required the colonists to house some of the 10,000 soldiers in the colonies. The Quartering Act was passed to save money, making the colonists forced to house soldiers. The colonists didn't like this law, so they protested saying that Parliament was violating their rights. -
Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act Congress was held to send a petition to Parliament, demanding that the Stamp Act and Sugar Act be ended. This congress consisted of 9 colonies that were represented so that they could get rid of these two laws. The key leaders of this Congress were representatives from all 9 colonies that were in this congress. The Stamp Act Congress wrote a document that was passed in October, 1765 that said “taxes put on British colonists without the colonists having say, was unconstitutional.” -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts was named after an official of the British Treasury, Charles Townshend. This law's purpose was to enforce the import duties, and help officers find illegal goods, by using the Writs of Assistance. This made them tax imported goods. Items that were taxed by this law were paper, tea, and glass. The colonists responded to this Act by boycotting, and not using British goods, which made Parliament repeal the Townshend acts. Parliament kept the tax on tea after repealing the Act. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was caused by many events. The first event was the Sugar Act which put a tax on molasses, and angered many colonists because they used molasses a lot. Another event that led up to the Boston Massacre was the Quartering Act, which was a law that made colonists house British troops while they were in the colonies, angering many colonists. This act once again made colonists say that Parliament was violating their rights. The Stamp Act also led up to the Boston Massacre. -
Boston Massacre 4
John Adams defended the soldiers, because he believed that in a free country everyone accused of a crime had some rights. These rights were that everyone deserved a lawyer, and a fair trial. There was a famous photo of the Boston Massacre, drawn by Paul Revere. -
Boston Massacre 3
The workers also threw snowballs and rocks at the soldiers. The scared soldiers fired into the crowd, killing 5, and wounding 6. Governor Thomas Hutchinson tried to calm the fight down by arresting the 9 soldiers involved. I don't think it was really fair to call this the Boston Massacre because the soldiers had no intention of hurting people, they were just standing guard, when colonists came up and harassed them. They just fired to protect themselvs from the danger. -
Boston Massacre 2
This act made colonists pay new taxes on everything, because they had tax stamps on the products. The colonists protested the Stamp Act, and got it repealed but Parliament passed the Declaratory Act, which said Parliament had total authority over the colonies. These were the events that led up to the Boston Massacre. The Boston Massacre happened on March 5, 1770 in Boston when an angry crowd of sailors and workers surrounded a group of soldiers. The workers shouted at the soldiers. -
Tea Act
The Tea Act was created to raise revenue from the colonies. It was also created to bail out the East India Company, which was a key thing in the British economy. They were granted a monopoly to sell tea in the colonies. This act was meant to help the economy, and the East India Company. This is true because the colonists had never accepted to establish the Tea Act. A monopoly is a company that controls all or nearly all business in a particular industry, which is what the East India Company got. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was when the colonists boarded the East India Company ships dressed as Native Americans, and dumped their 342 crates of tea that was to be sold overboard. The Boston Tea Party was caused when the British government passed the Tea act, because no one liked this act and wouldn't take the shipments of tea. A group of 50 men led by Samuel Adams were the ones responsible for throwing the tea overboard, and causing the Boston Tea Party. The British responded by closing the harbor. -
Boston Tea Party 2
The British also started the Coercive Acts. The Coercive Acts insisted of 4 acts, including the Boston Port Act which closed the port until all damages were paid. It also included the Massachusetts Government Act, which restricted town meetings. Another act it insisted of was the Administration of Justice Act, which made officials immune to criminal justice. The last thing it insisted of was the Quartering Acts. These acts were all used due to the Boston Tea Party. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts was passed due to all the destruction during the Boston Tea Party. These Acts were going on till or after the damaged was paid for all the tea thrown overboard. Another name for the Intolerable Acts is the Coercive Acts. There were 5 laws that were the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, the Quartering Act, and the Quebec Act. Some Important parts of these laws included closing the port, and stopping town meetings. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was held by colonists, because they were really upset by the Intolerable Acts, and taxes. The meeting was also held to discuss unfair treatment from Britain, and what colonist’s rights should be. There were delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies. The only colony that did not send a delegate to that meeting was Georgia. There were 55 delegates present at the first Continental Congress. They all agreed to boycott British goods. -
First Continental Congress 2
They also agreed to meet again if Great Britain did not change its policies. Some key people that attended were Samuel Adams, and John Adams from Massachusetts. Joseph Galloway was also present, and he suggested that they side with Britain. -
Lexington and Concord
The British military was headed to Concord so they could steal gunpowder, because they had an order to seize an arms cache. At Lexington, when the British arrived there was about 70 minutemen waiting for the arrival of these 240 British soldiers. They were standing on Lexington green, and they were all just staring at each other, then someone shot a bullet that is also known as the shot heard round the world. Minuteman is a person that is a volunteer that is also a part of the militia. -
Lexington and Concord 2
A minuteman is also ready to fight at a minute's notice. At Concord the British couldn't advance, because the American Militia wouldn't let them. This made the British head to Boston, but the militia hid behind trees and fences. They did this so they could shoot the British. For the British there were 125 casualties. The result for this campaign for the British included them losing at Concord, and they were also hated throughout the colonies. -
Second Continental Congress
On June 14, 1775 the Second Continental Congress established the Continental Army. They also on this day named George Washington commander in chief. The Second Continental Congress also agreed to the Olive Branch petition, which was a direct appeal to the king. The Second Continental Congress also wrote a document called the Declaration of causes, which explained why all the Colonies had taken up arms in what had become the Revolutionary War. -
Second Continental Congress 2
This congress helped the 13 colonies because it gave them independence against Great Britain. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The colonists were going to build their defenses at Fort Ticonderoga, but ended up building them on Breed's Hill, which is also where the Battle of Bunker Hill took place. This fight was the British who were led by General William Howe, and the Americans who were led by Israel Putnam. The British had a strategy to win this fight and that was to attack straight up Breed's Hill. They did this because The Americans barley had any ammunition, and people knew the Americans weren't going to win. -
Battle Of Bunker Hill 2
This war was a series of 3 fights. The first 2 fights were won by the Americans, but the third was won by the British because the Americans ran out of ammo. Since the British won the last battle and killed most of the Americans, the British ultimately won the war. This was a costly victory, because 100 British were either hurt or dead. Also the British were forced out of Boston due to George Washington putting cannons on high ground overlooking Boston.
