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The French And Indian War
The French Empire in the North America expanded it collided with the growing British empire. -
Writ of Assistance
In 1761 the royal governor of Massachusetts authorized the writ of assistance. This was a general search warrant that allowed British customs officials to search any colonial ship or building they believed was holding smuggled goods. -
Treaty of Paris
The war ended in 1763 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Great Britain claimed Canada and North America east of the Mississippi River and also took Florida from Spain. Spain was allowed to keep its lands west of the Mississippi and New Orleans. France retained control of a few small islands near Newfoundland and the West Indies. -
Proclamation of 1763
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 sea bound ignored the proclamation and continued to stream onto Native American lands. -
Sugar Act & colonists response
The sugar Act did three things it 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 tired in a vice-admiralty court rather than a colonial court. There, each case would be decided by a single judge rather than by a jury of sympathetic colonists. -
Stamp Act & colonists response
The Stamp Act imposed a tax on documents and printed items such as wills, newspapers, and playing cards. Colonists responded by boycotting British goods and also by forming a secret organisation called the Sons of Liberty. -
Sons of Liberty is formed & Samuel Adams
Colonists united and organized a secret resistance group called the sons of Liberty. They claimed Parliament should not be able to impose taxes on colonists since they had no representation and also decided to boycott British goods until the stamp act was repealed. The boycott worked and the stamp act was repealed but parliament issued a new Townshend Act. Samuel Adams was one of the leaders and founders and once again they began to boycott British goods. -
Declaratory Act
On the same day that the Stamp Act was repealed Parliament passed the Declaratory Act. The Declaratory Act asserted Parliament's full right "to bind the colonies and people of America in all cases whatsoever." -
Townshend Acts & colonists response
In 1767 Parliament passed the Townshend Act, which taxed goods that were imported into the colony from Britain, such as lead, glass, paint and paper. The act also imposed a tax on tea, the most popular drink in the colonies. Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty boycotted British goods in response. -
Boston Massacre
On March 5th, 1770, a mob gathered in front of the British Customs House and began harassing the soldiers stationed there. Eventually shots were fired and 5 colonists were killed. Colonial leaders quickly labeled the confrontation the Boston Massacre. -
Tea Act
The Tea Act granted the East India Company the right to sell tea to the colonies without having to pay taxes on it. This outraged colonial tea sellers because they could not compete and would be cut out of the tea trade completely. The Boston Tea Party occurred as a result of the Tea Act. -
Boston Tea Party
In response to the Tea act a large group of Boston rebels disguised themselves as Native Americans and boarded three British tea ships in the harbor. The rebels dumped 18,000 pounds of the East India Company's tea into the waters of Boston harbor. -
The Intolerable Acts
In response to the Boston Tea Party King George III passed a series of measures the colonists called the intolerable acts. The first law shut down the Boston Harbor. The second law, the Quartering Act, authorized British commanders to house soldiers in vacant homes and buildings. Lastly, General Thomas Gage, commander-in-chief of the British forces in North America was appointed to be the governor of Massachusetts. -
First Continental Congress
In response to the Intolerable 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
After the First Continental Congress many colonial towns began to work on military preparations. The minutemen were civilian soldier who pledged to be ready to fight the British at a minutes notice. -
John Locke's Social Contract
Locke believed that people have a right to life, liberty, and property and that society is based on a social contract in which people consent to obey a government so long as it protects those rights. If a government violates the social contract then the people have the right to rebel. -
Second Continental Congress
In May of 1775 colonial leaders met in Philadelphia to discuss the loyalties that were dividing the colonies. Some called for independence while others called for reconciliation with Great Britain. The congress named the colonial militia the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as commander. -
Continental Army
The Continental Army was the colonial militia led George Washington that was founded during the Second Continental Congress. -
Midnight riders: Revere, Dawes, Prescott
On the night of April 18th, 1775, Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott rode out to spread the word that 700 British troops were headed for Concord. Church bells and gunshots were uses from town to town to signal that the British were coming. -
Battle of Lexington
a the king's troops neared the town, they saw 70 minutemen drawn up in line. The British commander ordered the minutemen to lay down their arms and leave. the colonists began to move out without laying down their muskets then someone fired and the British soldiers sent a volley of shots. Eight minutemen were killed and ten more injured. only one british soldier was injured. The Battle of Lexington, the first battle of the Revolutionary War lasted only 15 minutes -
Battle of Concord
The British marched on to Concord, where they found an empty arsenal. After a brief skirmish with minutemen, the British solders lined up to march back to boston, but the march quickly became a laughter. Between 3,000 and 4,000 minutemen had assembled by now, and they fired on the marching troops from behind the stone walls and trees. British soldiers fell by the dozen. the remaining British soldiers made their way back to Boston that night. Colonist had become enemies of Boston -
Battle of Bunker Hill
British general Thomas Gage decided to strike at Breed's Hill because it was a stronghold for many militiamen. However, the militiamen were crafty and waited to strike and ended up killing over 1,000 British. -
Olive Branch Petition
Many colonists still felt deep loyalty toward King George III and sent him the Olive Branch Petition to return to "the former harmony" between Britain and the colonies. King George rejected the petition and declared the colonies to be in rebellion. -
Loyalists and Patriots
Americans were divided into different groups during the war. Loyalists opposed independence and were loyal to the British crown. Loyalists believed Britain would win and they could avoid punishment associated with being a rebel. Patriots wanted independence and believed an independent America would have great social and economic equality. -
Publication of Common Sense
Thomas Paine published a 50 page pamphlet that criticized King George and the monarchy. He declared that independence would allow America to trade more freely and build a society with more equal social and economic opportunity free of tyranny. -
Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson was chosen to prepare the final draft in which he stated the rights of "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" to be unalienable. He also stated that a government's power can only come from the consent of the governed. It also stated that all men are created equal and included a critique on the slave trade, but Jefferson had to drop that clause to get South Carolina and Georgia to vote. On July 4th, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was officially adopted. -
Redcoats push Washington's army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania
washington and his 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 to finish them off once and for all. -
Washington's Christmas night surprise attack
Desperate for an early victory, Washington risked everything on one bold stroke set for Christmas night, -
Saratoga
General John Nurgoyne planned to lead his troops down a route of lakes from Canada to Albany to meet up with British troops coming from New York City. While traveling through the wilderness he was distracted by militiamen and was slowly surrounded by the Continental Army. Realizing the other British force he planned to meet up with wasn't coming he surrendered at Saratoga. -
French-American Alliance
France had secretly been aiding the Americans but the victory at Saratoga bolstered France's belief that America could win the war. France signed an Alliance with America and openly joined the fight as a result. -
Valley Forge
While the French-American Alliance was being established Washington and his Continental Army were fighting to stay alive at winter camp in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Low on food and supplies, over 2,000 soldiers died but the survivors did not desert. -
Friedrich von Steuben & Marquis de Lafayette
Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian captain and talented drillmaster helped train the Continental Army. Marquis de Lafayette lobbied France for reinforcements and led a command in Virginia in the last years of the war. -
British victories in the South
At the end of 1778 British forces easily took Savannah, Georgia. British under Generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis captured Charles Town, South Carolina in May 1780. Colonists continued to fight with Cornwallis and prevented him from taking the Carolinas, so he chose to take the fight to Virginia. -
British surrender at Yorktown
The armies of Lafayette and Washington began to move toward Yorktown while a French naval force prevented British reinforcements via sea by blocking Chesapeake Bay. By late September 17,000 French and American troops and surrounded Yorktown and were bombarding the British from every direction. Less than a month later, on October 19th, 1781 Cornwallis surrendered. -
Treaty of Paris
Peace talks began in Paris in 1782. The American negotiators included John Adam, John Jay and Benjamin Franklin. In September 1783, the delegates signed the Treaty of Paris, which established the United States as an independent new nation. The United States now stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from Canada to the Florida border.
