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French and Indian war
In 1754, the French and Indian war. During 17th and 18th century, there were three wars between France and Great Britain. The conflict between the two countries is known as French and Indian war. -
Writ of Assistance
The royal governor of Massachusetts authorized the use of the writ of assistance, a general search warrant that allowed British custom officials to search ant colonial ship or building they believed to be holding smuggling goods. -
Treaty of Paris
By signing the Treaty, the war officially ended in 1763. This treaty made Spain to keep their lands in the Mississippi and the city of New Orleans. France retained control of only a few islands and small colonies. -
Proclamation of 1763
In order to escape from the conflict between Native American, the British government established the Proclamation of 1763. It prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. Even though the proclamation was established, the colonists wanted to expand their way to West. -
Sugar Act and colonists response
Great Britain had borrowed money a lot. So that there were so many taxes on the imports that had not been taxed. This act caused violation from the colonists. -
Stamp Act and colonist response
The Stamp Act required taxes on documents and even printed items like newspapers, and playing cards. In order to prove that the item is taxed, people placed a stamp on it. -
Sons of Liberty is formed and Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams is the founder of the Sons of Liberty. The Boston shopkeeper and laborers secretly organized the Sons of Liberty to protest the law. They didn't want to pay more tax and British goods -
Declaratory Act
On the same day that the Parliament had repealed the Stamp Act, the Declaratory Act had been repealed, which asserted Parliament's full right "to bind the colonies and people of America in all cases whatsoever." -
John Locke's Social Contract
One of the key enlightenment thinker was English philosopher John Locke. He maintained that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and poverty. Moreover, he contended, every society is based on a social contract - and agreement in which the people consent to choose and obey a government so long as it safeguards their natural rights. -
Townshend Act and colonists response. Why they were repealed
The Townshend Act taxed on the imported goods into the colony from Britain, such as lead, glass, paint, and paper. Also the Act imposed the tax on tea that people brinks the most. This is one of the reason why the Sons of Liberty was organized. -
Boston Massacre
On March fifth 1770, a mob gathered in front of the Boston Customs House and taunted the British soldiers standing guard. British soldiers shot five colonists. The colonists who got shot by the soldiers were killed or wounded. -
Tea Act
In 1773, the act granted the company the right to sell tea to the colonies free of taxes that the colonial sellers had to pay. This act 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. -
Boston Tea Party
On December 16, 1773, Boston colonists tried to pretend that they are Native Americans and go against the act. By the harbor, there were three ship that was holding the a lot of tea boxes which worth about a million dollars. The colonist dumped 18000 pounds of the tea into the water. -
Intolerable Acts - all 3 parts
King George got mad about the action of the colonists, the Boston Tea Party. So, he put the Parliament to act and that act passed. That act is called Intolerable Act. There are three acts within the Intolerable act. The first act is shutting down the Boston harbor. Second, Quartering Act, which authorized British commanders to house soldiers in vacant private homes and other buildings. The last act is that the Boston was under the military control. -
First Continental Congress meets
All 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
Colonists in many eastern New England towns stepped up military preparation. Minutemen are the civilian soldiers who pledged to be ready to fight against the British on a minute's notice. They 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. -
Continental Army
Despite such differences, the Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Second Continental Congress
In May of 1775, colonial leaders called the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia to debate their next move. The loyalties the 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 appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Battle of Lexington
The king's troop redcoats reached Lexington on April 19. As they neared the town, they saw 70 minutemen drawn up in lines on the village green. The British commander ordered minutemen to lay down their arms and leave, and the colonists began to move out without laying down their muskets. 8 minutemen were killed and ten were wounded. It took 15 min -
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 3000 and 4000 behind stone walls and trees. 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 siege. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
British general Thomas Gage decided to strike at militiamen on Breed's Hill, north of the city Bunker Hill. On June 17, Gage sent 2400 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. T-he colonists had lost 450 men, while the British had suffered over 1000 casualties. The misnamed Battle of Bunker Hill would prove to be the deadliest battle of the war. -
Olive Branch Petition
By July, the Second Continental Congress was readying the colonists, felt deep loyalty to George 3 and blamed the bloodshed on the king's ministers. Congress sent the king the so-called Olive Branch Petition, urging a return to "the former harmony" between Britain and the colonies. King George rejected the petition, 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. -
Loyalists and Patriots
Loyalists - those who opposed independence and remained loyal to the British king - included judges and governor =s, as well as people of more modest means.
Patriots - the supporters of independence - drew their numbers from people who saw political and economic opportunity in an independent America.
Many Americans remained neutral. -
Publication of Common Sense
In widely read 50 page pamphlet titled Common Sense, Thomas 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 began with Lexington and Concord. Paine stated that the independence would make people to trade more freely and make the society better. -
Declaration of Independence author, summary of statements, date of adoption
Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston. The Declaration explains why the colonies should break away from Britain. It says that people have rights that cannot be taken away, lists the complaints against the king, and argues that the colonies have to be free to protect the colonists' rights. At the bottom of the document, the delegates signed their names. -
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 24400 men in small rowboats across the ice-chocked Delaware River. -
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. -
Saratoga
General 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 New York City. It was a successful plan. -
British Victories in the South
After loosing the Saratoga, they moved to the South. At the end of 1778, British got a victory in Savannah, Georgia. -
French American Alliance
The surrender at Saratoga turned out to be on 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 Feb 1778 -
Friedrich von Steuben Marquis de Lafayette
In Feb 1778, he helped to train the Continental Army. He lobbied France reinforcements in 1779, and led a command in Virginia in the last years of the war. -
Valley Forge
While this hopeful turn of events took place in Paris, Washington and his Continental Army fought to stay alive at winter camp in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. More than 2000 soldiers died, yet the survivors didn't desert. -
British Surrender in Yorktown
By late September, about 17000 French and American troops surrounded the British on the Yorktown peninsula and began bombarding them day and might. Less than a month later, on October 19, 1781, they were surrendered. -
Treaty of Paris
Peace talks began in Paris in 1782. 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 Unites States now stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from Canada to the Florida border
