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The French and Indian War
Territorial conflict between the French and British. -
Treaty of Paris
Great Britain claimed Canada and almost all of North America east of the Mississippi River, as well as Florida. -
Proclamation of 1763
Established a line across the Appalachians, which the colonists were not allowed to cross. -
Sugar Act + Colonists' response
The Sugar Act halved the taxes on foreign made molasses, placed taxes on imports that were not previously taxed, and most importantly, colonists accused of violating the act would be tried in a vice-admiralty court rather than a colonial court. Traders and merchants were outraged, but most colonists did not care due to the act not impacting them. -
Writ of Assistance
Documents that served as general search warrants. It inspired the fourth amendment against unlawful search and seizures. -
Stamp Act + Colonists' Response
The Stamp Act imposed a tax on printed items and documents such as wills, newspapers, and playing cards. A stamp would be placed on the properly taxed items. In May of 1765, the colonists united to rebel against the act, and formed the Sons of Liberty. They then boycotted the law until Parliament repealed it. -
Sons of Liberty + Samuel Adams
The Sons of Liberty were formed as a resistance group after the Stamp Act, and their group boycotted the unfair tax laws. They were led by Samuel Adams. -
Declaratory Act
This 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Townshend Acts + Colonists' response + why they were repealed.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, named after the leading government minister Charles Townshend, taxed goods that were imported into the colony from Britain, and imposed a tax on tea, the most popular drink. The colonists again boycotted British goods. They were repealed when Lord Frederick North, who replaced Grenville as prime minister, realized that the Townshend Acts were costing more to enforce than they would ever pay back. -
John Locke's Social Contract
Locke maintained that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property. Furthermore, 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 contract, the people have the right to resist and even overthrow the government. -
Boston Massacre
A mob gathered in front of the Boston Customs House + taunted the British soldiers standing guard. Shots were fired and five colonists, including Crispus Attucks were killed or mortally wounded. Colonial leaders quickly labeled the confrontation the Boston Massacre. -
Tea Act
Lord North devised this act in order to save the nearly bankrupt British East India Company. The act allowed the company to sell tea to the colonists free of the taxes that colonial tea sellers had to pay. This would cut colonial merchants out of the tea trade entirely. -
Boston Tea Party
A large group of Boston rebels disguised themselves as Native Americans, and dumped 18,000 pounds of the East India Company's tea into the harbor. These directly inspired the Intolerable acts. -
Intolerable Acts
Parliament passed these acts in response to the Boston Tea Party. One law shut down Boston Harbor. Another authorized British commanders to house soldiers in vacant private homes and other buildings. General Thomas Gage was appointed commander-in-chief of the British forces, and placed Boston under rule imposed by military forces. -
First Continental Congress meets
56 delegates met in Philadelphia and drew up a declaration of colonial rights. They defended the colonies' rights to run their own affairs and stated that if the British used force against the colonies, the colonies would fight back. -
Minutemen
These were civilian soldiers who pledged to be ready to fight against the British on a minute's notice. -
Second Continental Congress
Some delegates called for reconciliation with Britain, while others rallied for independence from it at this congress. Despite this, the Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its leader. -
Continental Army
Recognized at the second continental congress, and led by George Washington. -
Midnight Riders: Revere, Dawes, Prescott
These three rode out to spread word that 700 British troops were headed for Concord. The countryside rang with church bells and gunshots-prearranged signals sent from town to town. -
Battle of Lexington
700 Redcoats encountered 70 Minutemen drawn up in lines on the village green. Across 15 minutes, one British soldier was injured, while 8 minutemen were killed, and 10 were injured. This marked the first battle of the revolutionary war. -
Battle of Concord
Immediately after the fight at Lexington, the British marched to Concord, but found nothing but an empty arsenal. The troops lined up to march back to Boston, but by this point between 3000 and 4000 Minutemen had assembled, and they fired on the marching troops from behind stone walls and trees. British soldiers fell by the dozen. The remaining bloodied and humiliated soldiers made their way back to Boston that night. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
British General Thomas Gage decided to strike at the militiamen on Breed's Hill, north of the city and near Bunker Hill. Gage sent 2,400 soldiers up the hill. The colonists held their fire until the last minute and then began to mow down the advancing redcoats before retreating. By the time the smoke cleared, the colonists had lost 450 men, while the Redcoats had lost 1,000. The misnamed battle would be the deadliest battle of the war. -
Olive Branch Petition
This was a petition urging the king to restore former harmonies between Britain and the colonies. The king flatly rejected the petition. -
Publication of Common Sense
a 50 page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. He stated that the issues arising with Britain were a direct result of the king himself, and that the rebellion began in full at Lexington and Concord -
Loyalists and Patriots
Loyalists opposed independence and included judges and governors- as well as people of more modest means. Many Loyalists thought the British would win and wanted to avoid punishment as rebels. Patriots saw opportunity both economically and politically in an independent America. Many Americans, however, remained neutral. -
Redcoats push Washington's army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania
The British sent a force of 32,000 men, mostly German mercenaries into battle in the summer of 1776. The poorly manned and poorly equipped Colonial army soon retreated into Pennsylvania. -
Declaration of Independence
Authored by Thomas Jefferson, the statements boiled down to the justifications for colonial independence given their grievances with King George III. -
Washington's Christmas Night Surprise Attack
Washington risked everything in one move. On Christmas night, 1776, in the face of a fierce storm, he led 2,400 men in small rowboats across the Delaware River. They then marched to their objective- Trenton, New Jersey, and defeated a garrison of German Mercenaries in a surprise attack. -
Saratoga
The plan was to lead an army down a route of lakes from Canada to Albany, where he would meet British troops as they arrived from New York City. The two regiments would join up to isolate New England from the rest of the colonies. As Burgoyne traveled through forested wilderness, he was assaulted by militiamen and Colonial Army members, and he didn't realize that the British officers were busy holding Philadelphia and weren't coming to meet him. Americans then captured him at Saratoga. -
French-American Alliance
the battle at Saratoga was important because it inspired confidence in the French that the colonials could win the war, and openly joined them in the fight. -
Valley Forge
Washington and his army endured by a threat here in Utah, extremely low on food and supplies. Over 2,000 died, yet the survivors did not desert. -
Frederich Von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette
Frederich Von Steuben helped train the Continental Army, alongside others such as Marquis de Lafayette. Lafayette lobbied France for French reinforccements in 1779, and led a command in Virginia in the last years of the war. -
British Victories in the South
A British expedition easily took Savannah, Georgia, and Generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis captured Charles Town, South Carolina. In May 1780, Clinton left for New York, while Cornwallis stayed to rampage throughout the south. In early 1781, the general met opposition from colonists in the Carolinas. The general moved his army of 7,500 into Yorktown, where he planned to fortify himself, conquer Virginia, and reconvene with Clinton's forces. -
British Surrender at Yorktown
After learning of Cornwallis' plan, Lafayette and Washington's armies moved south to Yorktown. Meanwhile, a French naval fleet defeated a British fleet and blocked the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, obstructing British routes to the bay. By late september, about 17,000 French and American troops surrounded the British, and they began bombarding them day and night. on the date below, Cornwallis surrendered. The Americans had shocked the world and defeated the British. -
Treaty of Paris
This treaty was signed, which confirmed US independence, and set the boundaries of the new nation, and the US was born.
