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French and Indian War
French-British conflict after six years of peace. Alliances formed between the French and the Native American because of the fur trade. French and the Virginia government had a dispute about the rich land near the Ohio River valley. -
John Locke's Social Contract
He believed that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property. He believed 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 government interferes with the rights and violates the social contract, people have the right to resist and overthrow the government. -
Treaty of Paris 1763
The British tirumph at Quebec brought them vicotry in the war. It officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Great Britain-Canada, all of North america east of the Mississippi River, Florida (taken from Spain which allied with France)
Spain-kept possession of its lands west of the Mississippi and the city of New Orleans(which it had gained from France in 1762)
France-few islands and small colonies near Newfoundland, in West Indies, and elsewhere. -
Proclamation of 1763
To avoid conflicts with the Native Americans, British government prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. This Proclamation of 1763 established a proclamation line along the Appalachians, which colonists were not allowed to cross. This proclamation was ignored and colonists continued to expand westward. -
Sugar Act & colonist response
Grenville came up with the Sugar Act, which halved the duty on foreignmade molasses so colonists would pay lower tax rather than risk arrest by smuggling. It placed duties on certain imports that had not been taxed before. It provided that colonists accused of violating the act would be tried in vice admiralty court instead of colonial court(tried by a single judge instead of a jury of sympathetic colonists). Merchants thought it would reduce profits and they had no right to tax the colonists. -
Stamp Act & colonists response
Stamp 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.The first tax that affected colonists directly because it was levied on goods and services. Colonists tried to defy and resist the law in secret resistance group Sons of Liberty.They said that Parliament lacked the power to impose taxes on colonies because the colonists were not represented in Parliament. Wanted to boycott. -
Sons of Liberty is formed & Samuel Adams
They united saying that because colonists lacked representation in Parliament, Parliament didn't have the power to impose taxes. Samuel Adams, a founder of the Sons of Liberty, led people to boycott the British goods. -
Declaratory Act
An act that 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
Named after Charles Townshend, the leading government minister. The act taxed goods that were imported into the colony from Britain such as lead, glass, paint, and paper. Also imposed a tax on tea, a popular drink. Samuel Adams led the colonists to boycott British goods. Repealed because it costed more money than the money it brought in. Taxes repealed except for the tea. -
Boston Massacre
A mob gathered in front of the Boston Customs House and taunted the British soldiers standing guard there. Shots fired and five colonists, including Crispus Attucks, were killed or wounded. Named the Boston Massacre -
Tea Act
Lord North devised the Tea Act in order to save the nearly bankrupt British East India Company. Granted the company the right to sell tea to the colonies free of the taxes that colonial tea sellers had to pay. Would have cut colonial merchants out of tea trade by selling it directly to consumers for cheaper. American colonists protested dramatically. -
Boston Tea Party
Group of Boston rebels disguised as Native Americans took action against three British tea ships anchored in the harbor. They dumped 18,000 pounds of the East India Company's tea into the water of Boston harbor -
Intolerable Acts- all 3 parts
One law shut down the Boston harbor. The Quartering Act authorized British commanders to house soldiers in vacant private homes and other buildings(colonists had to house British soldiers?) General Thomas Gage, commander in chief of British forces in North America became new governor of Massachusetts. He placed Boston under martial law, or rule imposed by military forces. -
Minutemen
They were civilian soldiers ready to fight against the British on a minute's notice, they stockpiled firearms and gunpowder. -
First Continental Congress meets
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. -
Loyalists and Patriots
Loyalists opposed independence and remained loyal to British king. Thought British were going to win and wanted to avoid punishment as rebels. Crown would protect rights more effectively than the colonies. Patriots saw political/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. They rang church bells and shot guns and went town to town that the British were coming. -
Battle of Lexington
70 minutemen drawn up in lines to meet the redcoats at Lexington. British commanded minutemen to lay down their muskets and leave. Colonists began to move out and fired. British sent a volley of shots. Eight minutemen were killed, ten wounded, only one British soldier injured. First battle of Revolutionary War, it only lasted 15 minutes. -
Battle of Concord
Marched onto Concord. 3,000-4,000 minutemen assembled and they fired on the marching roops behind walls and trees. British soldiers fell by the dozen bloddied and humiliated. Remaining British soldiers made their way back to Boston. Colonists now enemies of Britain. -
Second Continental Congress
Gathered in Philadelphia to debate their next move. Some called for independence, some called for reconciliation with Great Britain. -
Continental Army
Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
British general Thomas Gage striked at militiamen on Brred's Hill with 2,400 soldiers. Colonists held their fire until the last minute and then began to mow down the advancing redcoats before retreating. The colonists had lost 450 men, British had over 1,000 casualties. Deadliest battle of the war. -
Olive Branch Petition
Most delegates/colonists still felt deep loyalty to George III, blamed the bloodshed on the king's ministers. Still hoping for peace, Congress sent the Olive Branch Petition, urging a return to "former harmondy" between Britain and colonies. -
Redcoats push Washington's army across Delaware River into Pennsylvania
British attempted to isolate NEw England by seizing NYC. With 32,000 soldiers, the British army sailed into NY harbor. Continental Army was poorly equipped and untrained and was pushed across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania -
Publication of Common Sense
A widely read 50 page pamphlet. Paine attacked King George and the monarchy. Paine, a recent immigrant, argued that responsibility for British tyranny lay with "the royal brute of Britain". Paine explained that his own revolt against teh king begun with the Battle of Lexington and Concord. He declared that independence would allow America to trade freely. Independence would give colonists to create a better society without tyranny, and equal opportunities. Sold nearly 500,000. -
Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson. He drew on Locke's ideas of natural rights by including "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" as "unalienable rights". Government's power comes from the consent of the governed. If government denied people of their Long list of rights that Parliament had violated. Included that "all men were created equal" but was dropped when states objected in fear of losing slaves, NAs, women. 7/2/1776- voted unanimously that colonies were free. 7/4- adopted the Declaration. -
Washington's Christmas Night Surprise Attack
Washington and his 2,400 men crossed Delaware River in small rowboats and went to Trenton, New Jersey. They defeated a garrison of Hessians in a surprise attack. -
Saratoga
General Burgoyne wanted to lead an army down a route of lakes from Canada to Albany to meet British troops as they arrived from NYC and isolate New England from rest of colonies. Continental Army gathered. Burgoyne didn't realize that British officers were preoccupied w/ holding Philadelphia and couldn't meet him. American troops surrounded General at Saratoga and he surrendered. -
Valley Forge
Washington and the 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. -
British Victories in the South
British expedition took Savannah, Georgia at the end of 1778. British under Generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwllis captured Charles Town, South Carolina, in May 1780. Clinton left for New York while Cornwallis conquered land throughout the South. -
French American Alliance
Battle at Saratoga was an important event in the war. Although French had secretly aided the Patriots since early 1776, the battle convinced France that America can win the war. French signed an alliance with the Amerians and openly joined the fight. -
Friedrich van Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette
von Steuben, Prussian captain and talented drill master, helped train the Continental Army. de Lafayette lobbied France for French reinforcements in 1779, and led a command in Virginia in the last years of the war. Continental Army became an effective fighting force. -
British Surrender at Yorktown
French naval force defeated British fleet and blocked entrance to Chesapeake Bay. 17,000 French and American troops surrounded British on the Yorktown peninsula and began bombarding them. Cornwallis surrendered. -
Treaty of Paris
Peace talks began in Paris 1782. Negotiating team included John Adams, John Jay of New York, Benjamin Franklin. Signed Treaty of Paris which confirmed U.S. independence and set boundaries of the new nation. US now stretched from Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from Canada to the Florida border. -
Writ of Assistance
