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The French and Indian War
The colonists and the French ran into trouble when the colonists tried to claim land that the French also claimed. Native Americans fought on both sides, planning on how which side would benefit them the most. The colonists won the war. Their victory caused the French to leave the New World and Britain to go into debt for funding the war. -
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The French and Indian War
These are the events prior to the Revolutionary War and they all had a major impact on the cause of the Revolution. -
Proclamation of 1763
This document ended the French and Indian War and it reserved land west of the Appalachian Mountains for the Native Americans. Britain began raising taxes on the colonists to pay off the war debt. -
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The Acts
These were a series of laws passed by Britain that were used to pay off debt from the french and Indian War. -
Sugar Act
George Grenville was the Prime Minister in charge of Parliament when the Sugar Act law was passed. The law required a tax on products that contained sugar or molasses. This law was passed to pay off the war debt from the French and Indian War. The colonists did not like the act and they protested the act so much that it was repealed before it was even enforced. -
Stamp Act Congress
The delegates from each colony met in New York City and they discussed what they should do about the Acts Britain has passed onto them. They wrote a letter stating that what Britain was dong was unfair and they sent it to Britain. Britain repealed the Stamp Act that day but passed the Declaratory Act right after. -
Stamp Act
George Grenville was the Prime Minister responsible for passing the Stamp Act. This law required a tax on any printed documents and required a stamp for approval. The colonists did not like this law because the purpose was purely for money. Everybody needed a printed document at some point in their lives, and this was a way that Britain was guaranteed money from the colonists. -
Quartering Act
This act was a law and it required colonists to provide food, water, shelter, rum, and other necessities to British soldiers. -
Declaratory Act
This act repealed the Stamp Act, but it also stated that Britain has the right to pass whatever law they wanted to onto the colonists. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were named after Charles Townshend, who was the one who proposed the idea of the tax. This law required a tax on goods like glass, paper, lead, paint, and tea. The law also allowed British soldiers to use writs of assistance, which let them look anywhere at anytime for smuggled goods. The colonists claimed the British had no right to impose such taxes on them. -
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Conflict in Boston
Colonists start to fight back for their rights and challenge British authority, and some of the events are those we still talk about today. -
Boston Massacre
One morning, a group of colonist gathered around British soldiers and had started to yell at them and throw snowballs and rocks at them. As the commotion grows, people start to hit the soldiers with sticks and clubs. People are threatening the soldiers to fire, while the captain in charge of the solders was telling them to not fire. Out of the commotion and confusion, one of the soldiers fired into the crowd, and soon after, so did the other soldiers. Five people died in the Boston Massacre. -
Boston Tea Party
The Sons of Liberty, who was led by Samuel Adams, dressed as Mohawk Indians and they threw 92,000 lbs of tea into the harbor as a way to protest the tea Act. Britain passed a series of laws, nicknamed the Intolerable Acts, as a way to punish the town of Boston. -
Intolerable Acts
These acts were mainly targeted at the town of Boston for the Boston Tea Party. These laws provoked the use of its trading ports, made British soldiers be tried in court in England, restricted how many gatherings colonists could have, and even gave away parts of Massachusetts to Canada. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was called forth so they could discuss what actions they wanted to take when dealing with the Coercive Acts. Delegates from every colony except for Georgia gathered in Philadelphia. Some founding fathers were also there, and they were John Adams, George Washington, Patrick Henry, and John Jay. The outcome from the meeting was that the colonies wouldn't import anymore British goods, and that they'd tell Britain that they didn't have the right to tax them. -
Quebec Act
This law gave land from Massachusetts to Canada for them to use to colonize on and grow. Because of this law being passed, the colonists have more resentment towards the British. -
Battle of Concord and Lexington
The British were on their way to Concord to seize a stockpile of weapons and ammunition. Paul Revere rode his horse and warned people that the British were coming and the minutemen and militia needed to prepare to fight. He eventually got captured by the British and Samuel Prescott finished the ride for him. For the Patriots, only 49 people died. Casualties for the British were 73. -
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The American Revolution
These next events are after the American Revolution started. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
This battle took place on the Charlestown Peninsula. The Americans lost the war, but the British had far more casualties than the Americans did. The colonists had gained a bigger confidence after this battle, because they were able to inflict damage onto the enemy's army. -
Common Sense
Thomas Paine was the author of Common Sense. This pamphlet encouraged the idea of separating from England, and forming a new union for themselves. -
Second Continental Congress
States that were involved with the Second Continental Congress were Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Delaware. The founding fathers that attended were: John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and James Wilson. They met in Philadelphia and discussed their actions for the war. They wrote both the Olive Branch Petition and the Virginia Declaration of Rights were written. -
Declaration of Independence
Benjamin Franklin was the author of the Declaration of Independence. This document officially declared its independence from Britain. It stated why it was going to separate from England as well. This document included the right to overthrow and reform its government if it was proven to not be doing its job correctly. At first, the colonists weren't entirely sure on joining the new union, but eventually they did.
