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French and Indian War
The war was caused by a building of tension over the course of a few years between the French and the British. The tension was over land and who claims what in North America. The first few years the British lost consecutively to the french because they had Natives support. The British regained its power and better troops so the Iroquois which essentilly led to their victory. -
John Lockes 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. -
Writ of Assistance
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. -
Treaty of Paris
The British won the war and claimed virtually all of North America east of the Mississippi River, along with Florida. France retained som of thei colonies near New Foundland. -
Proclamation of 1763
To aoid costly conflicts with the Natives, British governement created a proclamation that prohibited extending over the Appalachian mountains, so the colonist could not cross. Of course they were eager so they didn t pay much heed. -
Sugar Act and Colonists Response
It halved the duty on foreign-made molasses in the hopes that colonists would pay a lower tax rather than risk arrest by smuggling. It placed duties on certain imports that had not been taxed before. Most important, it provided that colonists accused of violating the act would be tried in a vice-admiralty court rather than a colonial court. -
Stamp Acts & colonists response
This actimposed a tax on documents and printed items such as wills, newspapers, and playing cards. -
Sons of Liberty is formed & Samuel Adams
Secret resistance group that the colonists used to defy the law. Samuel Adams was one of the founders of Sons of Liberty and led colonists to boycott British goods. -
Declaratory Acts
On the same day British Parliament repeale the stamp act, they passed theDeclaratory Act, which asserted Parliament’s full right “to bind the colonies and people of America in all cases whatsoever.” -
Townshend Acts & colonists response
Named after Charles Townshend, the leading government minister. It 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, which was the most popular drink in the colonies. boycotted British goods.The Acts were repelaed because it cost more to enforce than it brought in. -
Boston Massacre
A mob gathered in front of the Boston Customs House and taunted the British soldiers standing guard there. Shots were fired and five colonists, including Crispus Attucks, were killed or mortally wounded. -
Tea Act
Britain gives the East India Company special concessions in the
colonial tea business and shuts out colonial tea merchants. The colonists respond by disguising as Indians and dumping 18,000 pounds of tea into the harbor. -
Boston Tea Party
A large group of Boston rebels dumped 18,000 pounds
Company’s tea into the waters of Boston harbor. -
The Intolerable Acts
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. These became known by the colonists as the intolerable acts. -
Minutemen
Minutemen were civilian-soldiers who stepped up to prepare to battle the British forces if necessary.They quietly stockpiled gunpowder and armor. -
First Continental Congress meets
Delegates from all the colonies met in Philadelphia and drew up a declaration of colonial rights. This was the First Conetinental Congress meeting. they defended the colonies rights and stated if the British used force that the colonists would too. -
Continental Army
Colonial miltia formed with George Washington as its leader. -
Midnight riders: Revere, Dawes, Prescott
Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott 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 of Lexington
The first battle of the Revolutionary War which latsted fifteen minutes and eight minutemen killed and ten more injured. Only one British soldier was injured. -
Battle of Concord
British went on to march on concord but found an empy arsenal so as they turned back up, 3-4 thousand minute men were line up and opened fire. The remaining British soldiers made their way back to Boston. -
Second Continental Congress
Colonial leaders met in Continental Congress in Philadelphia to debate their next move. Some delegates called for independence, while others argued for reconciliation with Great Britain. Despite the different views they all agreed on a continental army with George Washington as its Commander in Chief. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
British General Thomas 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, the colonists had lost 450 men, while the British had suffered over 1,000 casualties. The misnamed Battle of Bunker Hill would prove to be the deadliest battle of the war. -
Olive Branch Petition
Congress sent the king the so-called Olive Branch Petition, urging a return to “the former harmony” between Britain and the colonies. -
Publication of common sense
Thomas Paine declared in a 50-page widespread pamphlet 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. -
Loyalists and Patriots
Loyalists were those who opposed independence andwere loyal to the King. Patriots were the supporters of independence from Britain and the King. -
Redcoats push wahingtons army across the Deleware 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 -
Washingtons 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. The British soon regrouped, however, and in September of 1777, they captured the American capital at Philadelphia. -
Declaration of indepndence
The colonists had declared their independence from Britain and now had to fight for it.Thomas jefferson prepared the final draft and it stated clearly that all men are created equal. -
Saratoga
General John Burgoyne planned 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. While he was fighting off the colonial 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 surrounded Burgoyne at Saratoga, where he surrendered on October 17, 1777. -
French American Alliance
The Saratoga victory gave France belief in that America would win the war so they created an official alliance. -
Valley Forge
More than 2,000 soldiers died in the winter camp, 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. Other foreign military leaders, such as the Marquis de Lafayette, also arrived to offer their help. Lafayette lobbied France for French reinforcements in 1779, and led a command in Virginia in the last years of the war. -
British Victories in the south
The british took Savannah, Georgia in 1778. Then Charlestown South Carolina. Generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis were the key to the british's success. -
British surrender at Yorktown
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 late 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 finally surrendered. -
Treaty of Paris
Peace talks began in Paris in 1782. The American negotiating team included John Adams, John Jay of New York, and Benjamin Franklin. In September 1783, the delegates signed the Treaty of Paris, which confirmed U.S. independence and set the boundaries of the new nation.
