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French and Indian War
The French and Indian War was the fourth war between Great Britain and France for control of North America. The Native Americans helped Britain win the war. -
Writ of Asistance
In 1761, the royal governor of Massachusetts authorized the use of the writs of assistance, a general search warrant that allowed British customs officials to search any colonial ship or building they believed to be holding smuggled goods. Because many merchants worked out of their residences, the writs enabled British officials to enter and search colonial homes whether there was evidence of smuggling or not. The merchants of Boston were outraged. -
Treaty of Paris 1763
Officially ended the French and Indian War -
Proclamation of 1763
The British government prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains to avoid further conflicts with Native Americans. Established the Proclamation Line. -
Sugar Act & colonists response
What it did: 1) Halved the duty on foreign-made molasses hoping colonists would pay a small tax rather than risk arrest by smuggling 2) Placed duties on certain imports which had ever been taxed before 3) provided that colonists accused of violating the act would be tried in a vice-admiralty court rather than a colonial court. Colonial merchants complained that the Sugar Act would reduce their profits and claimed Parliament had no right to tax the colonists since they didnt have representation. -
Stamp Act & colonists response
This act imposed a tax on documents and printed items such as wills, newspapers, and playing cards. A stamp would be placed on the items to prove that the tax had been paid. Colonists unified to defy the law. -
Sons of Liberty is formed & Samuel Adams
Boston shopkeepers, artisans, and laborers organized a secret resistance group called the Sons of Liberty to protest the law. Samuel Adams was one of the leaders of this group, and organized other boycotts against British goods. -
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Townshend Acts & Colonists response & why they were repealed
The Townshend Acts taxed goods that were imported into the colony from Britain, such as lead, glass, paint, and paper. The Acts also imposed a tax on tea, the most popular drink in the colonies. Colonists boycotted. They were repealed by Lord Frederick North because he realized they were costing more to enforce than they would ever bring in. -
Boston Massacre
An angry mob gathered in front of the Boston Customs House and taunted British soldiers standing guard there. Shots were fired and five colonists were killed or mortally wounded. -
John Locke's Social Contract
Locke said that every society is based on a social contract—an agreement in which the people consent to choose and obey a government so long as it safeguards their natural rights. If the government violates that social contract by taking away or interfering with those rights, people have the right to resist and even overthrow the government. -
Tea Act
In 1773, Lord North devised the Tea Act in order to save the nearly bankrupt British East 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 East India Company to sell its tea directly to consumers for less. North hoped the American colonists would simply buy the 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, commander-in-chief of British forces in North America, 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 meets
Formed in response to Britain's actions, 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
civilian soldiers who pledged to be ready to fight against the British on a minute’s notice -
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—prearranged signals, sent from town to town, that the British were coming. -
Battle at Lexington
Someone fired, and the British soldiers sent a volley of shots into the departing militia. Eight minutemen were killed and ten more were wounded, but only one British soldier was injured. The Battle of Lexington, the first battle of the Revolutionary War, lasted only 15 minutes. -
Battle of Concord
Nobody was there when the British arrived, but as they turned to leave, between 3,000 and 4,000 minutemen had assembled, and they fired on the marching troops from behind stone walls and trees. British soldiers fell by the dozen. Bloodied and humiliated, the remaining 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. -
Second Continental Congress
Some delegates called for independence, while others argued for reconciliation with Great Britain. Despite such differences, the Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Continental Army
Made up of the militiamen, the Continental Army was established at the Second Continental Congress. Its Commander was George Washington. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Misnamed, but the battle was the deadliest of the war. The colonists were on Breed's Hill, and waited to fire until the very last moment. The colonists suffered 450 casualties, while the British suffered 1000. -
Olive Branch Petition
Urged for a return to "the former harmony" between Britain and the Colonies. -
Publication of Common Sense
A 50 page pamphlet in which Thomas Paine attacked King George and the monarchy. Paine declared that independence would allow America to trade more freely. He also stated that independence would give American colonists the chance to create a better society—one free from tyranny, with equal social and economic opportunities for all. -
Declaration of Independence
Written by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence stated that all men are created equal and stated the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Jefferson then asserted that a government’s legitimate power can only come from the consent of the governed, and that when a government denies their unalienable rights, the people have the right to “alter or abolish” that government. It also contained a list of grievances against the British crown. July 4, 1776. -
Loyalists and Patriots
Loyalists (mostly judges and governors) fought on the side of the British crown while the patriots (people who saw opportunity in independence) fought for the independence of our country. -
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. -
Washington's Christmas night surprise attack
Washington risked everything on one bold stroke set for Christmas night, 1776. In the face of a fierce storm, he led 2,400 men in small rowboats across the ice-choked Delaware River. They then marched to their objective—Trenton, New Jersey—and defeated a garrison of Hessians in a surprise attack. -
Saratoga
American troops surrounded Burgoyne at Saratoga after he realized his fellow British officers weren't coming to meet him and ultimately surrendered to the Americans. -
French-American Alliance
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 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 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. More than 2,000 soldiers died, yet the survivors didn’t desert. Their endurance and suffering filled Washington’s letters to the Congress and his friends. -
Friedrich von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette
Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian captain and talented drillmaster, helped to train the Continental Army. 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. -
British Victories in the South
End of 1778 - Savannah, Georgia
May 1780 - Charles Town, South Carolina
under generals Charles Cornwallis and Henry Clinton -
British Surrender at Yorktown
Hearing that the British were heading to Yorktown, Lafayette and Washington went south. Meanwhile, a French naval force defeated a British fleet and then blocked the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, thereby obstructing British sea routes to the bay. By September, about 17,000 French and American troops surrounded the British on the Yorktown peninsula and began bombarding them day and night. Less than a month later, on October 19, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered, making the Americans victorious. -
Treaty of Paris
In September 1783, the delegates 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.
