-
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War started in 1654. The French and Indian War was a battle between the French and Great Britain.They were fighting for North America. The war happened because the french empire was expanding in North America; as a result they collided with the British empire who was also expanding. -
John Locke's Social Contract
He believed that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property. He contended, every society is based on a social contract; and agreement in which the people consent to choose and obey a government so long as it safeguards their natural rights. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was created in 1763. It stated that Great Britain owned Canada and virtually all of North America east of the Mississippi river. Britain also took Florida from Spain. -
Proclamation of 1763
The proclamation establishes a proclamation line along the Appalachians, which the colonists were not allowed to cross. However the colonists were eager to expand resulting to them ignoring the proclamation. -
Sugar Act and Colonists Response
The act was made in 1764. It was made to create more money for Great Britain. They taxed the colonists more. It created tension because colonists merchants complained the they were loosing profit and being taxed too much. -
Stamp act and Colonists Response
This act was made in 1765. This 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 colonists got together and tried to defy the law in May of 1765. This caused tensions because the colonists were angered and wanted to take it down. -
Declaratory Act
On the same day that the stamp act got repealed the Declaratory act had been passed. It asserted parliament's full right "to bind the colonies and people of America in all cases whatsoever." -
Sons of Liberty is formed and Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams, one of the founders of The Sons of Liberty led the colonists in a boycott against British goods. The city of Boston erupted in bloody clashes and later in a daring tax protest. -
Townshend Act and coclonists response. Why the were repealed
In 1767 parliament passed the Townshend acts, named after Charles Townshend. The acts taxed goods that were imported into the colony from Britain , such as lead, glass, paint , and paper. This tax also imposed a tax on tea. this caused tensions and the colonists were trying to boycott Great Britain. the colonists put on tax protests and there were bloody battles in the city of Boston. -
Boston Massacre
On march 5th, 1770, a mob gathered in front of the Boston customers house and taunted the British soldiers standing guard there. Shots were fired and five colonialists were killed or badly wounded. -
Tea Act
In 1773, Lord North devised the Tea Act in order to save the nearly bankrupt British East India Company. The act granted the company the right to sell tea to the colonies free of the taxes that colonial tea sellers had to pay There were tensions because this would cut out colonial merchants out of the tea trade and the colonialists were not happy with that. -
Boston Tea Party
A large group of Boston rebels disguised themselves as Native Americans and proceeded to take action against three British tea ships anchored in the harbor. The "Indians" dumped 18,000 pounds of the East India Company's tea into the waters of the Boston harbor. -
Intolerable Acts-all 3 parts
One law shut down Boston Harbor. Another authorized British commanders to house soldiers in vacant private homes and other buildings. In addition to these acts General Thomas Gage, was appointed to keep peace. As a result he placed Boston under martial law, or rule imposed by military forces. -
First Continental Congress Meets
In response to Britain's actions, the committees of correspondence assembled the first Continental Congress. Delegates met in Philadelphia and drew up a declaration of colonial rights. Init it defended the colonies right to run their own affairs and it protected them against the British. -
Minutemen
They are civilian soldiers who pledged to be ready to fight against the British on a minutes notice they quietly stockpiled firearms and gunpowder. It moved the colonies closer to war with Britain because they were secret soldiers that the British didn't know they had. In other words; there were more soldiers than the British thought there were on the colonists side. -
Second Continental Congress
Colonial leaders called the second meeting to debate their next move. There were many debates at the meeting because of loyalties to different people. Some called for Independence while others called for reconciliation. with Britain. In the meeting they agreed to appoint George Washington as their commander. -
Continental Army
In the second continental congress, the colonial leaders debated their next move. There was endless debates because some delegates called for independence while others wanted reconciliation with Britain. Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Battle of Lexington
As the British "redcoats" reached Lexington they saw 70 minutemen in lines along the village green. Britain ordered the minutemen to lay down their weapons; the colonists began to move out with their weapons. One of them fired a shot resulting in the British shooting repetitively at the Colonists. 8 minutemen died and 10 were injured. Only one British soldier was injured. The first battle of the Revolutionary War only lasted 15 minutes. -
Battle of Concord
After Lexington the British marched and headed to Concord where they found an empty arsenal. They soon left to march back to Boston, but as they were marching between 3,000 and 4,000 minutemen assembles and fired at the British killing many of them. The British soldiers made their way to Boston. On that say the Colonists became enemies with the British. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Thomas Gage sent 2,400 British troops up Breed's Hill. The Colonists held their fire until the last minute and finally they stated to mow down the advancing redcoats before finally retreating. The Colonists had lost 450 men while the British lost over 1,000 casualties. This was 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. King George rejected the petition and he issued a proclamation stating that the colonies were in rebellion and urged parliament to order a navel blockade the line of ships meant for the American coast. -
Publication of Common Sense
The widely read 50 page book titled common sense written by Thomas Pain attacked King George and the monarchy. He argued that responsibility for British tyranny lay with "the royal brute of Britain." He also argued that his own revolt against the king begun with Lexington and Concord. The book Common Sense had sold nearly 500,000 copies in 1776. -
Declaration of Independence
The author of The Declaration of Independence was Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson's document declared the rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" to be rights that can never be taken away. He also stated that a governments legitimate power can only come from the consent of the governed and if they try to take away the unalienable rights the people have the right to alter or abolish that government. The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 2nd 1776. -
Loyalists and Patriots
The Loyalists were those who opposed independence and remained loyal to the British King. This included judges and governors, as well as people of more modest means. Patriots were the supporters of independence; they drew their numbers from people who saw political and economic opportunity in an independence America. Many Americans stayed neutral. -
Redcoats push Washington's army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania
This started in New York and eventually ended in Pennsylvania. Although the Continental Army tried to defend New York in late August they soon retreated because they were poorly equipped and untrained. By late fall, the British had pushed Washington's army across the Delaware river into Pennsylvania. -
Washington's Christmas surprise attack
Washington lead 2,400 men in small rowboats across the ice-chocked Delaware River. They then marched to their objective; Trenton, New Jersey and defeated a garrison of Hassians in a surprise attack. The British soon regrouped, however, in September of 1777, they captured the American capital at Philadelphia. -
3 Interesting facts about the American Revolution
Fact 1: The American leaders who fought in the Revolutionary War wore distinguishing cockades in their hats. The colors of the cockades indicated the rank of the commander and were pink, red, yellow and green.
Facts 2: George Washington was one of the most important people of the war.
Fact 3: The British tried to surrender to the French at the end of the American Revolution. The French General refused the generals sword and instead pointed him towards George Washington to offer surrender. -
Saratoga
As Burgoyne traveled through the wilderness, militiamen and soldiers from the Continental Army gathered from all over New York and England. Whole he was fighting the Colonial troops he didn't realize that his fellow British officers weren't coming to meet him,. American troops finally surrounded Burgoyne at Saratoga. -
French-American Alliance
Although the French had secretly aided the Patriots since early 1776, the Saratoga victory bolstered France's belief that the Americans could win the war. As a result the French signed an alliance with the Americans in February 1778 and openly joined them in their fight. -
Valley Forge
Washington and his Continental Army; desperately low on food and supplies. They fought to stay alive at winter camp in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. More than 2,000 soldiers died, 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
Fredrich is a Prussian captain and talented drillmaster. He helped to train the Continental Army. Marquis is a military leader of France. Marquis also offered arrived to offer heir help to the Prussian army. 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
In their greatest victory of the war, the British under Generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis captures Charles Town, South Carolina, in May 1780. In may 1780 Clinton left for New York while Cornwallis continued conquering through the south. -
British surrender at Yorktown
The armies of Lafayette and Washington moved south toward Yorktown. Meanwhile, a French navel force defeated a British fleet and then blocked the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, therefore 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 begun bombarding them. On October 19, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered. -
Treaty of Paris
The American negotiating team included John Adams, John Jay off New York, and Benjamin Franklin. In September 1783, the delegates signed the Treaty of Paris, which confirms U.S. independence and set the boundaries of the new nation.
