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French and Indian War
As the French collided with British empire. France
and Great Britain had fought three inconclusive wars. Spread to their overseas colonies. In 1754, after six relatively peaceful
years, the French–British conflict reignited -
Writ of Assistance
A general search warrant that allowed British customs officials to search any colonial ship or building they thought held smuggled goods. -
Treaty of Paris
The British triumph at Quebec brought them victory in the war. Great Britain got Canada and all of North America east of the Mississippi River, and took Florida from Spain.
Spain (allied with France) kept its lands west of the Mississippi and New Orleans, gained from France in 1762.
France only got a few islands and small colonies near Newfoundland, in the West Indies. -
Proclamation of 1763
The British established a Proclamation Line along the
Appalachians to halt further conflict with American Indians, however it was ignored by colonists. -
Sugar Act & colonists response
Halved the duty on foreign-made molasses, taxed more imports, and the accused would be tried in vice-admiralty court rather
than a colonial court (harsher). Colonists were angered and complained that it would lower their profit. -
Stamp Act & colonists response
Imposed taxes on wills, newspapers, and playing cards.
After much boycotting and resistance, March 1766 Parliament repealed the act. -
Declaratory Act
Parliament’s full right legislate for the colonies. -
Sons of Liberty is formed & Samuel Adams
One of the founders of the Sons of Liberty was Samuel Adams who led colonists to boycott goods being taxed by the Parliament. -
Townshend Acts & colonists response
Taxed lead, glass, paint, and paper and other imported goods from Britan. -
Boston Massacre
A mob gathered in front of the Boston Customs House protesting, shots were fired and five colonists, including Crispus Attucks, were killed or mortally wounded. -
Tea Act
Granted East India Company the right to sell tea to the colonies free of the taxes that colonial tea sellers had to pay. Colonists were angered at the loss of profit. -
Boston Tea Party
Boston protestors disgused themselves as American Indians and dumped 18,000 pounds of tea from England into the Boston harbor. -
First Continental Congress meets
Drew the declaration of colonial's rights. f the British used force
against the colonies, the colonies should fight back. -
Intolerable Acts – all 3 parts
King George the III made Parliment pass these acts which included: shutting down Boston harbor, authorized British commanders to house soldiers in vacant private
homes and other buildings, and placed Boston under imposed by military forces. -
Minutemen
Civilian soldiers who pledged to be ready to fight against the British on a minute’s notice. -
Midnight riders: Revere, Dawes, Prescott
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. -
Battle of Lexington
70 Minutemen in Lexington stood against redcoats. One fired, 8 killed, and ten wounded. The battle lasted 18 minutes. -
Battle of Concord
3,000 and 4,000 minutemen had assembled in Concord. Redcoats fell quickly and retreated. -
Second Continental Congress
In Philadelphia Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Continental Army
Established at the second Continental Congress meet. George Washington became the leader. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
2,400 British soldiers up the hill. Colonists had lost 450 men, retreating, while the British had suffered over 1,000 casualties.
The misnamed Battle of Bunker Hill is the deadliest battle of the war. -
Olive Branch Petition
Congress sent the king the Olive Branch Petition, urging a return to “the former harmony” between Britain and the colonies. The king rejected the petition. -
John Locke’s Social Contract
Agreement in which the people consent to choose and obey a government so long as it safeguards their natural rights. If it
violates that social contract by taking away those rights, people can resist and even overthrow the government. -
Publication of Common Sense
50 page pamphlet by Thomas Paine. Attacked King George and the monarchy. -
Declaration of Independence
By Thomas Jefferson that "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” to be “unalienable” rights and a government’s
legitimate power can only come from the consent of the governed. -
Loyalists and Patriots
Loyalists- Remaind loyal to the King and opposed the others. Thought British would win and did not want to face the punishment. Patriots- Wanted to separate from the British. -
Redcoats push Washington’s army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania
Attempted to defend New York, the untrained and poorly equipped colonial troops soon retreated. The British had pushed Washington’s army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. -
Washington’s Christmas night surprise attack
Led 2,400 men in small rowboats across the Delaware River. Defeated a garrison of Hessians in a surprise attack. -
Saratoga
French secretly helped Americans defeat Burgoyne at Saratoga. Troops surrounded him. -
French-American Alliance
After the win at Saratoga French signed an alliance with the Americans in February 1778 and openly joined them in their fight. -
Valley Forge
Washington and his Continental Army—desperately low on
food and supplies—fought to stay alive at winter camp. More than 2,000 soldiers died, yet the survivors didn’t desert because of Washington's patriotism. -
British victories in the South
British expedition easily took Savannah, Georgia. 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 Cornwallis continued to conquer land throughout the South. -
Friedrich von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette
Lafayette lobbied France for French reinforcements in 1779,
and led a command in Virginia in the last years of the war.
With the help of such European military leaders, the raw
Continental Army became an effective fighting force.
Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian captain and talented drillmaster, helped to train the Continental Army -
British surrender at Yorktown
About 17,000 French and American troops surrounded the British on the Yorktown peninsula and began bombarding them day and night, Cornwallis finally surrendered. -
Treaty of Paris
John Adams, John Jay of New York, and Benjamin Franklin. Signed the Treaty of Paris, which confirmed U.S. independence and set the boundaries of the new nation. The United States now stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from Canada to the Florida border.
