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French and Indian War
The French and British got involved. The French colony called New France were different from British colonies. They were interested in exploiting their territories than settling. They needed the Native Americans to be their partners in fur trade. Several military alliances developed out of their relationship. The British and French both wanted the rich Ohio River valley. The French built Fort Duquesne in that region. However, the Virginia government had sent militia to evict the French. -
John Locke's Social Contract
John Locke thought that people have natural rights to liberty, life and property. He also said that every society is based on a social contract which is an agreement where people give their consent to choose and obey a government as long as it follows their rights. If the government violates the contract would be overthrown by the people and can resist. It was between 1760s and 1770s. -
Writ of Assistance
The royal governor of Massachusetts authorized a general search warrant that allowed British custom officials to search any colonial ship or building they believed to be smuggling goods in French-held territories. Since many merchants work out of their residence, the writ had enabled British officials to enter and search colonial homes whether there was evidence. The merchants were outraged. -
Proclamation of 1763
The British government had prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains in order to prevent any conflicts with the Native Americans. They established a Proclamation line along the Appalachians that the colonists couldn't cross. However, the colonists wanted to expand westward because the Atlantic seaboard was crowded. So they ignored the Proclamation and continued to settle onto the Native Americans land. -
Sugar Act and Colonists Response
American customs service who collect taxes on imports, were losing money because the colonists were smuggling goods into the country. Parliament was asked to enact a law called the Sugar Act, which halved the duty on foreign-made molasses so colonists would pay a lower tax rather than smuggle. It placed duties on certain imports that haven't been taxed. And it also provided that colonists who were accused were tried. It reduced the amount of money for colonist merchants. -
Sons of Liberty and Samuel Adams
Boston shopkeepers, artisans and laborers organized a secret resistance group called the Sons of Liberty to protest the law. Samuel Adams who was on of the founders, boycotted British goods. -
Stamp Act and Colonist Response
Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which imposed tax on documents and printed items like newspapers, wills, and playing cards. The stamp will be placed in order to prove that the tax has been payed. The tax affected colonists goods and services. In May 1765, the colonial assemblies declared that Parliament lacked the power to impose taxes on the colonies because the Parliament didn't represent them. -
Declaratory Act
Parliament passed the act which asserted Parliament's full right to "to blind the colonies and people of America in all cases what whatsoever." -
Townshend Act and Colonists Response
Parliament passed the act, named after Charles Townshend who is the leading government minister. The Townshend Act taxed goods that were imported into the colony from Britain. The act also imposed a tax on tea, which was the most popular drink in the colonies. The colonists protested "taxation without representation" and organized a new boycott of imported goods. -
Boston Massacre
A mob gathered in front of the Boston Customs House to protest the taxes that were placed. British soldiers who were there fired and killed five colonist. Colonial leaders quickly labeled the event Boston Massacre. And they published a dramatic engraving depicting the violence. -
Tea Act
Lord North had created an act in order to save the nearby bankrupt British East India Company. The act had granted the company the right to sell tea to the colonies free of the taxes that colonists had to pay. This would've cut colonial merchants out of the tea trade. The East India Company made sure to sell its tea directly to consumers for less in order to make this happen. -
Boston Tea Party
Boston rebels disguised themselves as Native Americans in order to dump 18,000 pounds of the East India Company's tea into the waters of Boston harbor. -
Intolerable Act (1)
Parliament responded by passing this act. One of the laws had shut down Boston harbor. The Quartering Act had authorized British commanders to house soldiers in private homes and buildings. Also General Thomas Gage who was commander-in-chief of British forces in North America was appointed to be the new governor of Massachusetts. He had placed Boston under martial law. -
First Continental Congress Meets (2)
The committees of correspondence assembled in or to respond to Britain's actions. 56 delegates met in Philadelphia and made up a declaration of colonial rights. They made these rights because they wanted to defend and run their own affairs. If Britain used force, they should fight back. -
Continental Army
Colonial leaders called the Second Continental Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Minutemen
After the First Continental Congress met, minutemen (civilian soldiers) pledged to fight against the British on a minute's notice. -
Second Continental Congress
Colonial leaders in Philadelphia met to make their next move. Loyalists who divided colonists had sparked endless debates at the meeting. Some delegates called for independence. And others had argued reconciliation with Great Britain. The Congress had agreed to have their Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Publication of Common Sense
Thomas Paine attacked King George and the monarchy by writing a 50 page pamphlet. He had argued that responsibility for the Britain tyranny had to do with "the royal brute of Britain." His own revolt began with Lexington and Concord against the king. He stated that independence would allow America to trade freely and give colonists a chance to create a better society. He wanted to be free from tyranny. -
Loyalists and Patriots
As the war began there were two different sides Americans were on. There were Loyalists who had opposed independence and remained loyal to the kind. Most of these people were governors and judges. Then there were the Patriots who supported independence. Many of these people saw political and economic opportunity in a independence. Many African Americans were with the Patriots but others joined the king because the kind had promised them freedom who were willing to fight. -
Battle of Lexington (1)
On April 18, 1775 Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott rode out to spread the word that 700 British troops were coming. The king's troops "redcoats" reached Lexington, Massachusetts. They had saw 70 minutemen on the village green. The British commander ordered the minutemen to lay down their weapons but the colonists began to move out. Someone had fired and the British soldiers began shooting leaving 8 minutemen killed and 10 were wounded. The battle only lasted for 15 minutes. -
Battle of Concord (2)
When the British had reached Concord, they had found an empty arsenal. The British soldiers had quickly lined up and marched back to Boston. However, between 3,000 and 4,000 minutemen had assembled and fired on the marching troops. The remaining survivors made their way back to Boston that night. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
British general Thomas Gage wanted to strike at militia men on Breed's Hill. He had sent 2,400 British soldiers. The colonists had held their fire, began to mow down the redcoats and retreated. When the smoke had cleared 450 colonists were killed. The British had over 1,000 casualties. This was the most deadliest battle of the war. -
Olive Branch Petition
Congress sent the king a petition urging a return to "the former harmony" between Britain and the colonies. The king rejected. He had issued a proclamation stating colonies were in rebellion. He had urged Parliament to have a naval blockade to isolate a line of ships meant for the coast. -
Washington's Army Pushed
The British tried to seize New York by isolating New England. When the Continental Army had attempted to defend New York the untrained and poorly equipped troop retreated. By late fall, British had pushed Washington's army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. -
Declaration of Independence
Congress had appointed a committee to prepare a formal document. Thomas Jefferson was chosen to prepare the final draft. The document was based off of John Locke's ideas of natural rights. Jefferson wrote that rights of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" are to be "unalienable" meaning they can never be taken away. He also said that a government's legitimate power can come from the governed and people have the right to"alter or abolish" it. And free citizens were politically equal. -
Washington's Surprise Attack
Washington had led 2,400 men in a small row boats across the ice-choked Delaware River. They then marched to Trenton, New Jersey and surprised attacked a garrison of Hessians (German Mercenaries). However the British regrouped and captured Philadelphia. -
Saratoga
British General John Burgoyne planned to lead an army down a route of lakes from Canada to Albany. There he would meet British troops that come from New York. When he was fighting the Continental Army he didn't know that his back up were preoccupied. The American troops had surrounded him at Saratoga.The surrender at Saratoga had became one of the most important events of the war. -
Valley Forge
Washington and his Continental Army had low food and supplies. They fought hard trying to stay alive at the winter camp in Valley Forge. More than 2,000 soldiers died but survivors didn't desert them. -
French-American Alliance
The victory had bolstered French's belief that the Americans could win the win. The French then signed an alliance with the Americans and decided to join them. -
Friedrich von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette
Friedrich von Steuben was a Prussian captain and drill master who helped train the Continental Army. Lafayette asked France for French reinforcements in 1779. He also led a command in Virginia in the last years. The raw Continental Army became an effective fighting force. -
British Victories in South
The British tried to conquer the south. At the end of 1778 Britian easily took Savanah, Georgia and Charles Town, South Carolina in May 1780. Clinton left for New York leaving Charles to conquer land throughout the South. In early 1771, the colonists continued to battle Cornwallis who wanted to take the Carolinas. The British general led his army to the James and York rivers and camped at Yorktown. Cornwallis wanted to fortify Yorktown, take Virginia and join Clinton. -
British Surrender at Yorktown
The armies of Lafayette and Washington had learned about Cornwallis' actions so they moved south toward Yorktown. A French naval force had defeated a British fleet and had blocked an entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. By late September about 17,000 French and American troops had surrounded the British and began bombarding them. On October 19, 1781, Cornwallis had finally surrendered. -
Treaty of Paris
The American negotiating team included John Adams, John Jay of New York and Benjamin Franklin. The delegates had signed the treaty which confirmed U.S.independence and set the boundaries from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from Canada to Florida.
