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French and Indian War
France and G. Brit owned territory in N. Amer. The Ohio River Valley, located near Pennsylvania and Virginia was an area of contention between France and G. Brit. In 1754, the French built Fort Duquesne in the area while the Brits Colony of Virginia had already granted 200,000 acres of land in that area to Brit colonists. Virginia sent in the military to remove the French settlers of Fort Duquesne. This started war between France and G. Brit. Natives helped French and Brit against each other. -
Writ of Assistance
The royal governor of Massachusetts authorized the use of the Writs of Assistance, a general search warrant that allowed Brit customs officials to search any colonial ship/building they believed to be holding smuggled goods. Many merchants worked out of their residences, the writs enabled Brit officials to enter & search colonial homes whether there was evidence of smuggling or not. The merchants of Boston were outraged. -
Treaty of Paris 1763
The war officially ended in 1763 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Great Britain took Canada, all of North America, east of Mississippi River, Florida (from Spain) and France maintained control of a few colonies. -
Proclamation of 1763
Established a Proclamation Line along the Appalachians, which the colonists weren't 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 did 3 things, it 1/2 the duty on foreign-made molasses in hopes that colonists would pay lower tax rather than risk arrest by smuggling. It placed duties on certain imports that had not been taxed before, provided colonists accused of violating the act would be tried in a vice-admiralty court rather than a colonial court. Each case would be decided by a single judge rather than by a jury of sympathetic colonists. Merchants complained that the Sugar Act would reduce their profits. -
Stamp Act & colonists response
Imposed a tax on documents and printed items such as wills, newspapers, & playing cards. A stamp would be placed on the items to prove that the tax had been paid. It was the 1st tax that affected colonists directly because it was levied on goods and services. Previous taxes had been indirect, involving duties on imports. -
Declaratory Act
Parliament passed the Declaratory Act, asserts Parliament's full right "to bind the colonies & people of Amer in all cases whatsoever." -
Sons of Liberty is formed & Samuel Adams
Parliament then passed the Townshend Acts, named after Charles Townshend leading government minister. Townshend Acts taxed goods that were imported into the colony from British, such as lead, glass, paint, & paper. The Acts imposed a tax on tea & led men such as Samuel Adams, one of the founders of the Sons of Liberty, the colonists again boycotted British goods -
Townshend Acts & colonists response
Parliament then passed the Townshend Acts, named after Charles Townshend leading government minister. Townshend Acts taxed goods that were imported into the colony from British, such as lead, glass, paint, & paper. -
Why they were repealed?
As hostilities between the colonists & the Brit mounted, the atmosphere in Boston grew increasingly tense. The city soon erupted in bloody clashes & later in a daring tax protest, all of which pushed the colonists & Brit closer to war. -
John Locke’s Social Contract
He maintained that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property. He contended, every society is based on a social contract. If the government violates that social contract by taking away or interfering with those rights, people have the right to resist & even overthrow the government. -
Boston Massacre
A mob gathered in front of the Boston Customs House & taunted the Brit soldiers standing guard there. Shots were fired & five colonists, including Crispus Attucks, were killed or mortally wounded. Colonial leaders quickly labeled the confrontation the Boston Massacre. -
Tea Act
Lord North devised the Tea Act in order to save the nearly bankrupt Brit E. India Company.The act granted 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 E.India Company to sell its tea directly to consumers for less. North hoped the Amer. colonists would simply buy cheaper tea; instead, they protested dramatically. -
Boston Tea Party
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. The "Indians" dumped 18,000 pounds of the East India Company's tea into the waters of Boston Harbor. -
Intolerable Acts – all 3 parts
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, was appointed the new governor of Massachusetts. to keep the peace, he placed Boston under martial law, or rule imposed by military forces. -
First Continental Congress meet
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. -
Midnight riders: Revere, Dawes, Prescott
they rode out to spread word that 700 British troops were headed for Concord. The darkened countryside rang with church bells and gunshots. -
Minutemen
civilian soldiers who pledged to be ready to fight against the British on a minute's notice. They also quietly stockpiled firearms and gunpowder. -
Battle of Lexington
Redcoats reached Lexington, Massachusetts, 5 miles short of Concord. As they neared the town, they saw 70 minutemen drawn up in lines on the village green. The British commander ordered the minutemen to lay down their arms & leave, & the colonists began to move out without laying down their muskets. Some fired & the Brits soldiers sent a volley of shots into the departing militia. Eight minutemen were killed & ten more were wounded, but only 1 Brit soldier was injured. The war lasted 15 minutes. -
Battle of Concord
In Concord they found an empty arsenal, after a brief skirmish with minutemen, the British soldiers lined up to march back to Boston, but they quickly were slaughtered. Between 3,000-4,000 minutemen had assembled by now, & fired on the marching troops from behind stone walls & trees. British soldiers fell by the dozen. Bloodied & humiliated, the remaining British soldiers made their way back to Boston & its encampment of British troops under siege. -
Second Continental Congress
In Philadelphia the Second Continental Congress is where they debated 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 Brit. Despite such differences, the Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army & appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Continental Army
The Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army & appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Brit general Thomas Gage sent 2,400 Brit soldiers up the hill. The colonists held their fire until the last minute & 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. -
Olive Branch Petition
Congress sent the king the so-called Olive Branch Petition, urging a return to "the former harmony" between Britain & the colonies. The king rejected the petition. He issued a proclamation stating that the colonies were in rebellion & urged Parliament to order a naval blockade to isolate a line of ships meant for the American coast. -
Publication of 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 begun with Lexington and Concord. Paine declared that independence would allow America to more freely. He also stated that independence would give American colonists the chance to create a better society -1 free from tyranny, w/ equal social & economic opportunities for all. -
Declaration of Independence
There were many authors of the Declaration of Independence, of those including Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. It largely written, however, by Thomas Jefferson. It was officially signed by congress on July 4th, 1776. Within it lied the statement of wanting to separate from Britain. It also stated that all men deserve the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. -
Loyalists and Patriots
Loyalists- those who opposed independence & remained loyal to the Brit king-included judges & governors, as well as people more modest means. Many Loyalists thought that the Brits were going to win & wanted to avoid punishment as rebels. Others thought that the crown would protect their rights more effectively than the new colonial governments would
Patriots- supporters of independence-drew their #'s from people who saw political & economic opportunity in an independent America. -
Redcoats push Washington’s army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania
Redcoats isolate New England & quickly attempted to seize NYC. The Brits sailed into NYC Harbor in the summer of 1776 w/ a force of about 32,000 soldiers, + Germ soldiers. In Aug, the untrained & poorly equipped colonial troops soon retreated. By late fall, the Brits had pushed Washington's army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. -
Washington’s Christmas night surprise attack
Washington risked everything on one bold stroke set for X-mas night, he lead 2,400 men in a small rowboats across the ice-choked Delaware River. They then marched to their objective-Trenton, New Jersey-& defeated a garrison of Hessians in a surprise attack. The Brits soon regrouped, however, in Sept of 1777, they captured the American capital at Philadelphia. -
Saratoga
He didn't realize that his fellow Brit officers were preoccupied with holding Philadelphia & weren't coming to meet him. American troops finally surrounded Burgoyne at Saratoga, where he surrendered on October 17 1777. It turned out that 1 of the most important events of the war. -
Valley Forge
Washington & his Continental Army - desperately low on food & 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 & suffering filled Washington's letters to the Congress & his friends. -
French-American Alliance
The surrender at Saratoga turned out to be one of the most important events of the war. The French had secretly aided the Patriots since early 1776, France believed that the Amers could win the war. as a result, the French signed an alliance with the Amers in Feb 1778 & openly joined them in their fight. -
Friedrich von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette
In the midst of the winter at Valley Forge, Amers troops began an amazing transformation. Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian captain & talented drillmaster, helped to train the Continental Army. Marquis de Lafayette, a French military leader, arrived to offer their help. Lafayette lobbied France for French reinforcements in 1779, & 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. -
British victories in the South
Brits began to shift their operations to the S. At the end of 1778, a Brit expedition easily took Savannah, Georgia. In their greatest victory of the war, the Brits under Generals Henry Clinton & Charles Cornwallis captured Charles Town, S Carolina. Clinton then left for NYC, while Cornwallis continued to conquer land throughout the S. -
British surrender at Yorktown
After Brits learned of Cornwallis's actions, the armies of Lafayette and Washington moved S. toward Yorktown. Meanwhile, French naval force defeated a Brit fleet & then blocked the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, thereby obstructing Brit sea routes to the bay. By late Sept, about 17,000 French & Amer troops surrounded the Brits on the Yorktown peninsula & began bombarding them day & night. Less than a month later, on Oct 19, 1781, Cornwallis finally surrendered. The Amers defeated the Brits. -
Treaty of Paris
Peace talks began in Paris in 1782. the Amer negotiating team included John Adams, John Jay of NYC, and Benjamin Franklin. In Sept 1783, the delegates signed the Treaty of Paris, which confirmed U.S. independence & set the boundaries of the new nation. The U.S. now stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River & from Canada to the Florida border.
