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Sugar Act & Colonists' Response
Tension over suspect of colonists smuggling-->in 1754 Grenville passes the Sugar Act.
1. lower duty on foreign-made molasses so colonists would pay lower tax rather than smuggle
2. new taxes on some imports
3. colonists accused of violating the act would be tried in a vice-admiralty court (1 judge), not a colonial court
Merchants complained of lower profits, claimed Parliament had no right to tax colonists (no rep) -
French And Indian War
1754: French built Fort Duquesne in the Ohio River valley region, but Virginia (British) gvt. had already granted land there to planters --> Virginia sent militia to evict French. 1st war: French defeats George Washington (British). 2nd war: French/Nat. Amer. allies defeat Edward Braddock and Washington. 3rd/4th war: 1759, under politician William Pit, Britain gains success and alliance of Iroquois -
Writ of Assistance
-royal governor of Massachusetts authorized use of writs of assistance, a search warrant that allowed British officials to search any colonial ship/building they believed to be holding smuggled goods
-writs enabled British officials to enter and search colonial homes, evidence of smuggling or not. Merchants
of Boston were outraged, -
Treaty of Paris 1763
End of war between Britain and France:
-Britain claims Canada, all of N. America east of the Mississippi River, Florida from Spain (who sided with France)
-Spain keeps possession of its lands west of the Mississippi
and the city of New Orleans
-France retains few islands and small colonies near Newfoundland, in the West Indies, and elsewhere -
Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation established a Proclamation Line along the Appalachians, which the colonists were not allowed to cross. However, the colonists increasingly crowded Atlantic
seaboard, ignored the proclamation, and continued to stream onto Nat. Am. lands -
John Locke’s Social Contract
John Locke was a key Enlightenment thinker, he claimed people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property. Also, every society is based on a social contract— people consent to choose a gvt as it safeguards natural rights. If gvt fails to protect rights, people can resist or overthrow gvt. -
Stamp Act & Colonists Response
-tax on documents and printed items such as wills, newspapers, and playing cards
-first direct tax to colonists
In May, colonists arrange secret resistance group (Sons Of Liberty), and assemblies declared no right to tax without colonist rep. in Parliament
In October, New York, Boston, and Philadelphia agree to boycott British goods until Stamp Act is repealed--> March 1766 Parliament repeals Act -
Sons of Liberty & Samuel Adams
SoL: colonists unite, secret resistence organized by Boston shopkeepers, artisans, and laborers to protest law
Samuel Adams: one founder of SoL, led colonists to boycott again after Townshend Acts -
Declaratory Act
Passed the same day that Parliament repealed Stamp Act, asserted Parliament’s full right “to bind the colonies and
people of America in all cases whatsoever.” -
Townshend Acts, Response, Repeal
Acts: taxed imports such as lead, glass, paint, paper, tea
Response: boycott led by Samuel Adams
Repeal: Lord Frederick North, successor of Grenville as prime minister realizes Acts take more to enforce than they bring in --> North persuades Parliament to repeal the Townshend
Acts except tax on tea -
Boston Massacre
-Mob gathers and taunts British soliders-->shots are fired and 5 colonists are killed or wounded -
Tea Act
-North's plan to save nearly bakrupt British East India Company
- right to sell tea to colonies w/o taxes that colonial tea sellers had to pay
-North thought colonists would just buy the cheaper tea, but they rebelled with Boston Tea Party -
Boston Tea Party
Boston rebels disguised themselves as Native Americans and dumped 18,000 pounds of the East India Company’s tea into the waters of Boston harbor -
Intolerable Acts
Parliament passed Intolerable Acts in a furious response:
1. shut down Boston harbor
2. Quartering Act let British commanders house soldiers in vacant private homes/buildings
3. British General Thomas Gage was appointed the new governor of Massachusetts, holding Boston under martial law (rule imposed by military forces) -
Minutemen
-After First Continental Congress, colonists step up military prep. Minutemen (civilian soldiers who pledged ready to fight British on a minute’s notice) quietly stocked firearms
-General Thomas Gage learns of this, and in 1775 orders troops to march from Boston to Concord (Massachusetts) to seize illegal weapons -
First Continental Congress
56 delegates met in Philadelphia and drew up a declaration of colonial rights:
-colonies’ right to run their own affairs, if British interfere, colonists would fight back -
Midnight riders: Revere, Dawes, Prescott
Colonists in Boston saw Gage's order to seize weapons --> Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott ride out at midnight to spread word that 700 British troops are headed for Concord. Church bells and gunshots sounded, signals to towns that the British were coming. -
Battle of Lexington
Redcoats reached Lexington, Massachusetts, five mi. short of Concord, and are met by 70 minutemen. Eight minutemen are killed and ten more wounded, one British soldier is injured. The Battle of Lexington, first battle of the Revolutionary War, lasted 15 minutes. -
Battle of Concord
British marched on to Concord, and were about to head back to Boston. Around 3,500 minutemen had assembled now, and fired on the marching troops from behind stone walls and trees. Colonists are now enemies of Britain, holding Boston and its encampment of British troops under siege. -
Second Continental Congress
Colonists meet in Philadelphia to debate next move. Some delegates wanted independence, others wanted reconciliation. Either way, Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as Continental Army and appointed George Washington as commander -
Battle of Bunker Hil
Stuck in Boston, British general Thomas Gage struck at militiamen on Breed’s Hill, near Bunker Hill. Gage sent 2,400 soldiers up the hill, colonists held fire until the last minute and then shot advancing redcoats before finally retreating. Colonists lost 450 men, British had over 1,000 casualties. -
Olive Branch Petition
Congress sent the king the Olive Branch Petition, urging a return to peace between Britain and colonies. King George rejected the petition and declared the colonies were in rebellion, urging Parliament to order a naval blockade. -
Publication of Common Sense
50-page pamphlet by Thomas Paine attacking King George and the monarchy: independence would allow America to trade more freely, create a better society (no tyranny and equal social and economic opportunities for all). -
Loyalists and Patriots
Loyalists included judges, governors, and people of more modest means. They believed the British would win and wanted to avoid punishment, or that the Crown would protect rights better than the colonial gvt. Patriots wanted independence. Many were neutral. Many African Amer.s were Patriots, others were Loyalists (British promised freedom to loyalist slaves). Most Nat. Amer.s supported British because colonial settlers were greater threat to their lands. -
Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson prepared the final draft: unalienable rights to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”, gvt's power comes from the governed, and if rights are not protected, governed can “alter or abolish” that gvt. Jefferson listed violations against the colonists’ unalienable rights and declared independence. Statement that “all men are created equal.” would later help women/slaves/nat. americans fight for rights. -
Redcoats push Washington’s army across Delaware River to Pennsylvania
British attempted to seize NY City, sailing into NY harbor summer of 1776 with about 32,000 soldiers. Untrained and poorly equipped colonial troops soon retreated. By late fall, British pushed Washington’s army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. -
Washington’s Christmas Night Surprise Attack
Desperate for early victory, Washington risked everything in one bold stroke. 2,400 men in small boats sail across icy Delaware River. They march to Trenton, New Jersey and defeat a garrison of Hessians (German paid soldiers) in a surprise attack. British soon regroup and in September of 1777, capture American capital at Philadelphia. -
Saratoga
General John Burgoyne planned to meet other British troops to isolate New England. Continental Army gathered, and while he was fighting off the colonial troops, he didn’t realize other British officers were busy holding Philadelphia and weren’t coming to meet him. American troops fsurround
Burgoyne at Saratoga, he surrenders. -
French-American Alliance
Saratoga victory led to France’s belief that Americans could win the war. French signed alliance with the Americans in February
1778 and openly joined them in their fight. -
Valley Forge
Washington and Continental Army are low on food and supplies. They fight to stay alive in winter at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. More than 2,000 soldiers died. The survivors' loyalty filled Washington’s letters to the Congress/friends. -
Friedrich von Steuben & Marquis de Lafayette
Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian captain and drillmaster,
helps train the Continental Army at Valley Forge. Other foreign
military leaders, like Marquis de Lafayette, also offer help. Lafayette lobbied France for reinforcements in 1779, and the Cont. Army becomes effective. -
British victories in the South
British easily take Savannah, Georgia, after Saratoga. Under Generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis, they capture Charles Town, South Carolina in May 1780. Clinton leaves for NY while Cornwallis continues in the South. He leads his army of 7,500 to camp at Yorktown. -
British surrender at Yorktown
Armies of Lafayette and Washington hear of Cornwallis' plan amd move to Yorktown. French naval force defeats a British fleet and block the entrance to Chesapeake Bay and British sea routes to the bay. By late September, 17,000 French and Amer. troops surround British at Yorktown. In October 19, 1781, Cornwallis surrenders. -
Treaty of Paris
Peace talk begins in Paris 1782. American negotiating team includes John Adams, John Jay of New York, and Benjamin Franklin. In September 1783, the delegates sign Treaty of Paris, confirming U.S. independence and setting boundaries of the new nation. The US now stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from Canada to
the Florida border.
