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French and Indian war
The colonists called it the French and Indian War, and it permanently shifted the global balance of power. By the mid-18th century, both the British and French wanted to extend their North American colonies into the land west of the Appalachian Mountains, known then as the Ohio Territory. -
Proclamation Line
In 1763, at ethe end of the French and Indian War, the British issued a proclamation,mainly intended to conciliate the Indians by checking the encroachment of settlers on their lands. -
Sugar Act
The sugar act was a tax passed by the British to pay for the Seven Years War, called the French and Indian War in America. It taxed sugar and decreased taxes on molasses in British colonies in America and the West Indies. -
Stamp Act
This act required that colonists buy and put stamps on wills and playing cards. It was the first tax that affected the colonists directly because it was on everyday goods that they bought. This act was passed by parliament. -
Townshend Acts
These laws places a tax on a lot of imports and on tea. The colonists in Boston protested these new taxes with boycotts and riots. -
Boston Massacre
A group of Boston protestors gathered to harass some British soldiers. 5 Bostonians were killed. -
Committee of Correspondence
These served an important role in the Revolution, by disseminating the colonial interpretation of British actions between the colonies and to foreign governments. -
Boston Tea Party
The members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians dumped crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act and its provisions for taxation of tea -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were a set of laws passed by parliament to punish Massachusetts. Acting under these acts Britain closed Boston Harbor. They also placed Boston under Martial Law. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The significance of these battles is that they were the first battles of the Revolutionary War. These battles happened in April of 1775. They happened because the British commander in Boston had heard of supplies of powder and weapons being kept by Patriots in the towns of Lexington and Concord. -
Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was a final attempt by the colonists to avoid going to war with Britain during the American Revolution. It was a document in which the colonists pledged their loyalty to the crown and asserted their rights as British citizens. -
Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson wrote a document stating the colonies' reasons for declaring freedom. The second continental congress adopted the declaration on July 4, 1776 -
Battle of Saratoga
The Battles of Saratoga marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign, giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. -
Valley Forge
While the British occupied Philadelphia, Washington and his army hunkered down for a harsh winter at Valley Forge. No battle was fought there, yet, it was the turning point of the Revolutionary War. -
Treaty of Paris
Under this Treaty Britain recognized the U.S. as an independent nation.
