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The French and Indian War Begins
The French and Indian war also known as the Seven Years War was between the British and French colonies with support from their parent contries. The war was fought along the borders of the colonies from Virginia to Nova Scotia. Being greatly outnumbered the French enlisted the help of native americans. Although the war started in America it spread to around the world. The result of the war was a great loss of land for the French colonies. -
Treaty of Paris
The treaty was signed between Britian, Spain, France. This was the aggrement between them after Britian defeated France in the seven years war. France and Spain were forced to give back land they conquered and the land east of the Mississippi River to Britian. However Britian gave back land conquered in East India back to the French. -
Royal Proclamation
The Royal Procalamtaion was announced to let the colonist know what was to be done with the new land gained from the French. The proclamation said that Quebec would be ruled by a British appointed Governor and British laws were to be implemented. However it also said that colonist were not allowed to settle in the new land east of the Mississippi river. This angered the colonsit that they were not allowed to settle there. -
Sugar Act
The suagr act also known as the American Revenue Act was published to stop the evading of the tax on mollases. The tax on mollases was cut in half to three pence but enforcement was raised to actual collect the tax. This angered the colonist who had been evading the tax since 1733. This only added to the cause of the revolution by enposing harsh penalties for those caught smuggling and would take a piece out of merchants profits. -
Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act Congress or First Congress of the American Colonies was held in New York. It was the first meeting of elected represenitives from the colonies. The purpose was discuss how to respond to the newly imposed Stamp Act on the colonies. They believed that the Stamp Act unfairly taxed the colonies since the had no representation. The result was the declaration of rights and grievences. -
Townshend Acts
The townshend acts published by Charles Townshend were published after the repeal of the stamp act. They were designed to collect revenue from the colonists in America by putting customs duties on imports of glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. In response to this the colonist once again boycotted British goods. The boycott put a significant dent in British trade and the acts were repealed by 1770. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston massacre also known as the incident on Kings street happened between colonist and British soldiers. The British soldiers were stationed in Boston to help enforce the unpopular parliment legistration. British soldiers fired upon the crowd of colonist in the streets killing five civillians. Six of the soldiers were aquited of all charges while two were given reduced sentences. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston tea party was a protest by the radical group "The Sons of Liberty" against the new tax on tea. When Britain refused to let three ships full of tea lreturn to Britian colonist snuck on dressed as indians and destroyed the tea by dumbing it into the harbor. Colonist were angry about the tea act because they felt it violated the no taxation without representation. Britian responded with the intorrable acts and closed Bostons harbor, wich only led to more protests. -
First Continental Congress
The first continental congress was a meeting of delegates from twelve colonies. Georgia was not present at the meeting. They met at carpenters hall in Philadelphia to discuss the intorable acts. At the meeting they discussed how to respond and decided to petition King George to review the acts. The congress also called for another meeting in the future in case their petition was unsuccesful. -
Patrick Henry "Give Me Liberty"
Patrick Henry's famous line "give me liberty or give me death" was part of speach he delivered to the Virginia House of Burgesses. The point of the speach was to get Virginia to join the revolutionary war. He is credited to have swayed the votes in favor of delivering the troups. -
Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
Paul Revere was sent for by Dr. Joseph Warren and instructed to ride to Lexington, Massachusetts, to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British troops were marching to arrest them. Along the way Revere warned people along the contry side saying "the regulars are out." He didnt ride alone and was accompinied by two other men. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord kicked off the American Revolutionary War. Tensions had been building between the colonists and the British troups. After Paul Revere warned the colonist a battle ensued when the regulars met the colonists. No one knows who fired the first shot but the battle ended with the British retreat. -
Fort Ticonderoga
The fort was taken by the Green Mountain Boys led by Ethan Allen. They overcame the small British force protecting the fort. They looted the fort and the cannons and other weapons were transported to Boston. The cannons were used to fortify Dorchester Heights and ended the standoff during the seige of Boston. -
Second Continental Congress
After the fail of the petition set forward by the first continental congress the second continental congress met. Many of the same represenitives were there. They were in charge of managing colonial war efforts. The congress acted as the new government of the United States by planning strategies, signing treaties, and eventually signed the declaration of independence. -
Bunker Hill
Although a loss for the colonist it could be viewed as a win. The colonist were able to hold off the british soldiers with low supplies. The colonist were instructed to not fire until they saw the white of the enemies eye. This battle also provided the colonist with experience and a boost in their cofidence. Known as the battle of bunker hill most of the fighting occured on breeds hill. -
Common Sense
Common sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine stating why the american colonies should be independent from Britian. It was written in such a way that everyone understood. At this time most people didnt know weather or not they wanted independence. This pamphlet helped sway popular idea and helped inspire washingtons troups. -
British evacuate Boston
After realizing there position in Boston was not defendable the British were forced to flee. Thanks to the placement of cannons on Dorchester Heights. A total of 11000 British troups and 1000 loyalist fled boston by ship. -
Stamp Act
The stamp act introduced a new tax on every piece of printed paper the colonists used. Revenue from the tax was suppose to go to helping defend the colonies. This was the first tax that was meant to raise money for England. If this passed the colonist saw it as attempt to make money off of the colonies and would lead the way for future taxes. What angered the colonist most was that this passed without consent from colonist legislatures. -
Annoncement of Declaration of Independence
The document announced that the thirteen states then at war with Britian were declaring themselves independent. This came at a time when Britian and the colonies were at war with each other. John Adams was the leader of the commitee and chose Thomas Jefferson to draft the constitution. -
Washington Captures Trenton
After the dangerous crossing of the Deleware River, Washington put himslef in a position to fight Hessian soldiers at Trenton. With the bulk of the continental army Washington was able to capture most of Hessains forces after a short battle. What was important that came from this battle was that it raised support and moral in the army. The army on the verge of collaspe this victory quickly turned them around. -
British Defeat at Saratoga
The first battle took place on Sept 19 wich ended with a loss for the continental army. However when attacked again the continental army defeated the British. With what started as a small gain for the continental army capturing British defenses ended with the British surrender. After losing defense the British army was forced to retreat but they were surounded by the much larger continental army. This ended wwith the surrendor of the British and marked a turning point in the war. -
"The Crisis"
"The Crisis" was a series of pamphlets published by Thomas Paine. They were written in a way that everyone could understand and they became very popular. They also helped raise support for independence, by denouncing what most people feared and instead told people what they could gain with independence. -
Winter at Valley Forge
Moral of the continental army was at an all time low when Washington's troups entered valley forge. There were shortages of everything from food to medicine. At this point Washingtons leadership had began to be questioned. Prussian General Friedrich von Steuben joined the army as a trainer and turned the army around implementing new training. This bosted cofidence throughout the army. -
John Paul Jones defeats the Serapis
The U.S. ship Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, won a hard fought engagement against the British ships Serapis and Countess of Scarborough, off the eastern coast of England. During the battle Johns ship was greatly damaged. When asked if he would surrender he responded that he had not yet begun to fight. After a few more hours of fighting it was the British surrendering to him. -
Benedict Arnold
Known as one of the greatest traitors in american history. He had control of West Point and planned to surrender it to the British. When the plans were found out he was enlisted to the British army as a general. He narrorly escaped capture and continued on the side of the British until the war ended. -
Cornwallis Surrenders
General Cornwallis was forced to surrender 8000 troups to the continental and French army after a defeat at Yorktown. The British were fortified at Yorktown. With the help of the French, Washington cut off their escape by sea and by land. This defeat effictively ended the battles in the colonies.
