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The French and Indian War
As the French empire in North America expanded, it collided with the growing
British empire. During the late 17th and first half of the 18th centuries, France
and Great Britain had fought three inconclusive wars. Each war had begun in
Europe but spread to their overseas colonies. In 1754, after six relatively peaceful
years, the French–British conflict reignited. This conflict is known as the French
and Indian War -
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 search any colonial ship or building
they believed to be holding smuggled goods. Because
many merchants worked out of their residences, the writs
enabled British officials to enter and search colonial homes
whether there was evidence of smuggling or not. The merchants
of Boston were outraged. -
Treaty of Paris
The war officially ended in 1763 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Great
Britain claimed Canada and virtually all of North America east of the Mississippi
River. Britain also took Florida from Spain, which had allied itself with France.
The treaty permitted Spain to keep possession of its lands west of the Mississippi
and the city of New Orleans, which it had gained from France in 1762. France
retained control of only a few islands and small colonies near Newfoundland, in
the West Indies, -
Proclamation of 1763
To avoid further costly conflicts with Native Americans, the British government
prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. The
Proclamation of 1763 established a Proclamation Line along the
Appalachians, which the colonists were not allowed to cross. However, the
colonists, eager to expand westward from the increasingly crowded Atlantic
seaboard, ignored the proclamation and continued to stream onto Native
American lands. -
Sugar Act & colonists response
THE SUGAR ACT Great Britain had borrowed so much money during the war
that it nearly doubled its national debt. King George III, . To do so, in 1763 the king chose
a financial expert, George Grenville, to serve as prime minister.
Grenville concluded
that the colonists were smuggling goods into the country
without paying duties. In 1764 he prompted Parliament to
enact a law known as the Sugar Act.
The Sugar Act did three things. It halved the duty on
foreign-made molasses etc -
Stamp Act & Colonial response
In March 1765 Parliament passed the Stamp Act. This act
imposed a tax on documents and printed items such as wills, newspapers, 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. Previous taxes had been indirect, involving duties on imports. In May of 1765, the colonists united to defy the law. In October 1765, merrchants boycotted until act was repealed -
Declatory Act
In October 1765, merchants in New York, Boston, and
Philadelphia agreed to a boycott of British goods until the Stamp Act was repealed. The widespread boycott worked, and in March 1766 Parliament repealed the law. But on the same day that it repealed the Stamp Act, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act, which asserted Parliament’s full right “to bind the colonies and people of America in all cases whatsoever.” -
Sons of Liberty is formed & Samuel Adams
The Acts also imposed a tax on tea, the
most popular drink in the colonies. Led by men such as Samuel Adams, one of
the founders of the Sons of Liberty, the colonists again boycotted British goods. -
Townshend Acts & colonists response
Then, in 1767, Parliament passed the
Townshend Acts, named after Charles Townshend, the leading government minister. The Townshend Acts taxed goods that were imported into the colony from Britain, such as lead, glass, paint, and paper. The Acts also imposed a tax on tea, the most popular drink in the colonies. -
Why they were repealed (Townshed Acts)
Despite strong feelings on both sides, the political atmosphere relaxed somewhat
during the next three years. Lord Frederick North, who later followed
Grenville as the prime minister, realized that the Townshend Acts were costing
more to enforce than they would ever bring in: in their first year, for example, the
taxes raised only 295 pounds, while the cost of sending British troops to Boston -
John Locke’s Social Contract
One of the key Enlightenment thinkers was
English philosopher John Locke. Locke maintained that 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 that social contract by taking away or interfering with those rights, people have the right to resist and even overthrow the G -
Boston Massacre
On March 5, 1770, a mob gathered in front
of the Boston Customs House and taunted the British soldiers standing guard
there. Shots were fired and five colonists, including Crispus Attucks, were killed
or mortally wounded. Colonial leaders quickly labeled the confrontation the
Boston Massacre -
Tea Act
In 1773, Lord North devised the Tea Act in order to save the nearly bankrupt British East India Company. The act ranted the company the right to sell tea to the colonies free of the taxes that colonial tea sellers had to pay. This action would have cut colonial merchants out of the tea trade by enabling the East India Company to sell its tea directly to consumers
for less. North hoped the American colonists would simply buy the cheaper tea; instead, they protested dramatically -
Boston Tea Party
On the moonlit evening of December 16, 1773, 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, later known as the Boston Tea Party, the “Indians” dumped 18,000 pounds of the East India Company’s tea into the waters of Boston harbor. -
The Intorable Acts
In 1774, 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 forces in North America, was appointed the new governor of Massachusetts. -
First Continental Congress Meets
In response to Britain’s actions, the committees of correspondence assembled the First Continental Congress. In September 1774, 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—civilian soldiers who pledged to be ready to fight against the British on a minute’s notice—quietly stockpiled firearms and gunpowder. General Thomas Gage soon learned about these activities. In the spring of 1775, he ordered troops to march from Boston to nearby Concord, Massachusetts, and to seize illegal weapons. -
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
Patriots—the supporters of independence—drew their numbers from people
who saw political and economic opportunity in an independent America.
Many Americans remained neutral. -
Midnight riders: Revere, Dawes, Prescott
D Colonists in Boston were watching,
and on the night of April 18, 1775, 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,
sent from town to town, that the British were coming. -
Battle of Lexington
The king’s troops, known as “redcoats” because of their uniforms, reached
Lexington, Massachusetts, five miles short of Concord, on the cold, windy dawn
of April 19. As they neared the town, they saw 70 minutemen drawn up in lines. The British commander ordered the minutemen to lay down their arms and leave. Then someone fired, and the British soldiers sent a volley of shots into the departing militia. Eight minutemen were killed and ten more were wounded, but only one Brit injured -
Battle of Concord
The British marched on to Concord, where they found an empty arsenal.
After a brief skirmish with minutemen, the British soldiers lined up to march back
to Boston, but the march quickly became a slaughter. Between 3,000 and 4,000
minutemen had assembled by now, and they fired on the marching troops from
behind stone walls and trees. British soldiers fell by the dozen. Bloodied and
humiliated, the remaining British soldiers made their way back to Boston that
night. Colonists had become enemies -
Second Continental Congress
In May of 1775, 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
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
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 at militiamen on Breed’s Hill, north of the city and near
Bunker Hill. On June 17, 1775, Gage sent 2,400 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 1,000 casualties. Deadliest battle in the war -
Olive Branch Petition
On July 8, Congress sent the king the so-called Olive Branch Petition, urging a
return to “the former harmony” between Britain and the colonies.
King George flatly rejected the petition. Furthermore, he issued a proclamation
stating 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 -
Publication of Common Sense
Just as important were the ideas of
Thomas Paine. 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 British tyranny lay with “the royal brute of
Britain.” Paine explained that his own revolt against the king had begun
with Lexington and Concord. -
Redcoats push Washington’s army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania
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. -
Decleration Of Independance
By the early summer of 1776, the wavering
Continental Congress finally decided to urge each colony to form its own government.
On June 7, While talks on this fateful motion were under way, the Congress appointed a
committee to prepare a formal Declaration of Independence. Virginia lawyer
Thomas Jefferson was chosen to prepare the final draft.
The Declaration states flatly that “all men are created equal." -
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. The British soon regrouped, however, and in
September of 1777, they captured the American capital at Philadelphia. -
Saratoga
While he was fighting off the colonial troops, Burgoyne didn’t
realize that his fellow British officers were preoccupied with holding
Philadelphia and weren’t coming to meet him. American troops finally surrounded
Burgoyne at Saratoga, where he surrendered on October 17, 1777.
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 American -
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
1778 and openly joined them in their fight -
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. -
British victories in the South
At the end of 1778, a British
expedition easily took Savannah, Georgia.Generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis captured
Charles Town, South Carolina, in May 1780
victroy achieved due to the position of the troops and their formation -
Friedrich von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette
In February 1778Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian captain and talented drillmaster,
helped to train the Continental Army. Other foreign
military leaders, such as the Marquis de Lafayette
, also arrived to offer their help.
Lafayette lobbied France for French reinforcements in 1779 -
British surrender at Yorktown
Washington Layfayette and the French(17,000 troops of both French and American) cornered the Red coats. October 19, 1781, Cornwallis finally
surrendered -
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 U.S. independence
and set the boundaries of the new nation -
Source
http://www.mrlocke.com/US_History/book.html Information directly quoted from link above, the pages that are contained within the link