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French and Indian War
The French an Indian War was between France, their Native American, and Britain. It started when Britain sent militia to evict the French. After a lot of blood shed the war finally ended in 1763 witht the signing of the Treaty of Paris -
Writ of Assistance
The royal governor of Massachusetts authorized the use of the
writs of assistance. It was a general search warrant that allowed Brithish customs officials to search any colonial ship or building. the writs enabled British officials to enter and search colonial homes whether there was evidence of smuggling or not. -
Treaty of Paris
The treaty was signeed in 1763. Britain claimed Canada and almost all of North Amerca east of the Mississippi and New Orleans. France retained control of only a few islands and small colonies near Newfoundland located in the West Indies. -
Proclamation of 1763
Brithish officers delivered disease to the Native Americans. This forced the Natives to negotiate treaties with the British because the disease caused them to be too tired for battles. The British government, to avoid costly conflicts with the Natives, prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. -
Sugar Act and colonist's responce
Great Britain had borrowed so much money during the war that it almost doubled the national debt. The Sugar Act was put into place in 1764 to make sure that the colonists did not smuggle in goods. Colonial merchants complained that their profits were being effected -
Stamp Act and colonist's responce
This act imposed a tax on documents and printed items such as wills, newspapers, and playing cards. Astamp was put on each item to prove that the tax had been paid. I was the first tax that affected colonists directly -
Sons of Liberty is formed & Samuel Adams
Led by men such as Samuel Adams, one of the founders of the Sons of Liberty, the colonists again boycotted British goods. -
Declaratory Act
Asserted Parliament's full right "to bind the colonies and people of America in all cases whatsoever." -
Townshend Act and clonist's responce
Named after after Charles Townshed, the leading government minister. The Townshed Act taxed goods that were imported into the colony from Britain, such as lead, glass. paint, and paper. The act also imposed a tax on tea, the most popular drink in the colonies. The4 colonists boycotted the British. -
Boston Massacre
A mob of colonist's gathered in front of the Boston Customs House and taunted the British soldiers standing guard there. Shots were fired and five colonists were killed. -
Tea Act
The act granted the company the right to sell tea to the colonies free of taxes that colonial tea ships anchored on the harbor. -
Boston Tea Party
A large group of rebels disguised themselves as Native Amercans and proceeded to take action against three British tea ships anchored in the harbor. In "Indians" dumped 18,000 pounds of East India Company's tea into the waters os Boston harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
One law shut down the Boston Harbor. Another law authorized British commanders to house soldiers in vacant private houses. On top of all this General ThomasGage, commander-in-chief of British forces in North America, was appointed the new governor of Massachusetts. -
First Continental Congress
56 delegates met in Philadelphia and drew up a declaration of colonialrights. 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 minute's notice-quietly stockpiled firearms and gunpowder. -
Battle of Lexington
As they neared the town, they saw 70 minutemen dran up in lines on the village green. The British commander ordered the minutemen to lay down their arms. They did not and began to march forward. A shot went off and all hell broke loose. Eight minutemen died and ten more were wounded, one Brit soldier was wounded. -
Continental Army
Some delegates called for independence, while others argued for reconciliation with Great Britain. Despite such differences, the Congress agreed to recongnize the colonial militia as the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Olive Branch Petition
Urging a return to "the former harmony" between Brtainand the colonies. King George flatly rejected the petition. -
John Locke’s Social Contract
Locke maintained that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property. Furthermore, he contended, every society is based on a social contract-an agreement in which the people chose to obey the government. -
Publication of Common Sense
Paine attacked King George and the monarchy. Paine, a recent immigrant, argued that responsibility for British tyranny lay with "the royal brute of Britain." -
Loyalists and Patriots
Loyalists-those whoo opposed independence and remained loyal to the British king-included judges and governors, as well as people of more modest means.
Patriots-the supporters of independence-drew from their numbersfrom peoplewho saw political and economic opportunity in an independent America. -
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, that the British were coming. -
Second Continental Congress
Colonial leaders called the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia to debate their next move. The loyalties that divided colonists sparked endless debates at the Second Continental Congress. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Gage sent 2,400 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 By the time the smoke cleared, thecolonists had lost 450 men, while the British has suffered over 1,000 casualties. -
Battle of Concord
After a brief skirmish with minutemen, the British soldiers lined up to march back to Boston, but the march quickly became a slaughter. Between 3,000 and 4,000 minutemen had assembled by now, and they fired on the marching troops frombehind stone walls and trees. British soldiers fell by the dozen. -
Declaration of Independence
Virginia lawyer Thomas Jefferson was chosen to prepare a final draft. Drawing on Locke's ideas of natural rights, Jefferson's document declared the rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" to be "unalienable" rights-ones that can never be taken away. -
Washington’s Christmas night surprise attack
They marched to their objective-Trenton, New Jersey-and defeated a garrison of Hessians in a suprise attack. The British soon regrouped, however, and in September of 1777, they captured the American capital at Philadelphia. -
Redcoats push Washington’s army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania
As part of a plan to stop the rebellion by isolating New England, the British sailed into New York harbor in the summer of 1776 with a force of about 32,000 soldiers. They included thhousands of German mercanaries, known as Hessians. By late fall, the British had pushed Washigton's army across the Delaware River. Washington risked everything on one bold strokeset for Christmas night, 1776. He led 2,400 men in small rowboats across the ice-choked Delaware River. They marched to Trenton and won. -
Saratoga
While he was fighting off the collonial troops, Burgoyne didn't realize that his fellow British officers were preoccupied with holding Philadelphia and weren't coming to meet him. American troops finally Burgoyne at Saratoga, where he surrendered on October 17, 1777. -
French-American Alliance
Although the French had secretly aided the Patriots since early 1776, the Saratoga victory bolstered France's belief thatthe Americans could win this war. AS a result, the French signed an alliance with Americans in February 1778 and openly joined them in their fight. -
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. -
Friedrich von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette
Other foreign military leaders such as Marquis de Lafayette, also arrived to offer their help. -
British victories in the South
In their greatest victory of the war, the British under General Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis captured Charles Town, South Carolina in May 1780. -
British surrender at Yorktown
Shortly after learning of Corwallis's actions, the armies of Lafayette and Washington moved south toward Yorktown. 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. Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781. -
Treaty of Paris
The delegates signed the Treay of Paris, which confirmed U.S. independence and seet the boundries of the new nation. The United States now stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from Canada to the Florida border.
