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The First Clash: Fort Necessity
The Ohio Co. (as well as George Washington) fought over Pittsburgh with the French, as well as Delaware and Shawnee Indians. Ohio Co. was defeated -
French and Indian / 7 Years War
The French and Indian War began in 1754 (1756 in the colonies, hence seven years) and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The war provided Great Britain enormous territorial gains in North America, but disputes over subsequent frontier policy and paying the war's expenses led to colonial discontent, and ultimately to the American Revolution. -
Pontiac's Rebellion
Indians fought British colonists who were expanding Westward -
Paxton Boys
The Paxton Boys were frontiersman from Pennsylvania who formed a vigilante group to terrorize Indians after the French and Indian War and Pontiac's War. They were marching to Philly before Ben Franklin stopped them and calmed them down. It was similar to Bacon's Rebellion. -
Treaty of Paris
France: lost Canadian possessions, most of empire in India, and claims east to Mississippi River
Spain: got all French land west of Mississippi River, New Orleans, and lost parts of Florida to England
England: got all French land in Canada, exclusive rights to Carribean slave trade, and commerical dominance in India. -
Proclamation Line of 1763
The British forbade colonial expansion beyond Appalachian Mountains -
Sugar Act
Part of George Grenville's program: created to tax foreign goods, to stop smuggling, had military trials, colonists believed that trial by jury was a right, and it was taken away by Sugar Act -
The Currency Act
Part of George Grenville's program: the Currency Act required gold and silver to purchase British items (colonists previously all used their own paper $) -
Stamp Act Congress
Meeting held in NY, colonists meet to discuss British taxation and decide: “We resolve not to pay this” -
Stamp Act
Part of George Grenville's program: Stamp Act: tax was now on ALL paper products via stamps. Had no expiration date, unlike all other British taxations. It was the first tax completely on the colonists -
Quartering Act
Part of George Grenville's program: Quartering Act: colonists were required to take soldiers (who were there to protect the Indians from Americans, not the other way around) into their homes. Mainly affected big cities, such as Boston and NY -
Declaratory Act
In response to Stamp Act Congress, British declare “We declare the right to be able to tax you, we’re in control”. They repeal the Stamp Act. -
The Townshend Duties
The Townshend Acts imposed taxes on consumer products to raise revenue to help pay the salaries of colonial officials. In addition, the act allowed the supreme court of colonies to issue writs of assistance or search warrants on shipments to and from America. -
Committees of Correspondence
Boston selectmen vote to establish a twenty-one-member Committee of Correspondence. Their purpose was to warn neighboring colonies about incidents with British and to broaden the resistance movement. -
The Tea Act
British East India Co had a monopoly on British tea imports, many members of Parliament held shares, permitted the company to sell tea directly to colonists without Colonial middlemen (cheaper tea!). They expected the colonies to eagerly choose the cheaper tea, but the colonists were angry and refused to. -
Boston Tea Party
Sons of Liberty dress as Native Americans and throw 342 crates of tea into the Boston harbor. The tea destroys the water, causing no fish for decades. -
Native Americans and the War
1774 - Shawnee led uprising in KY and failed
1776 - Cherokee (dragging canoe) attacked western VA and NC. Failed and were driven out
1782 - 92 Native Americans massacred in Ohio over a white family being killed by Natives -
The Intolerable/Coercive Acts
British wanted to punish colonists for the Boston Tea Party:
Port Bill - closes Boston Harbor until tea is paid for
Government Act - suspended!! No government
New Quartering Act - 5K new soldiers added in Boston
Administration of Justice Act - British offenders were tried in Britain so they most likely got away with crimes
Quebec Act - Expands Quebec, Americans wanted to be Protestant and free of Catholicism -
First Continental Congress
55 delegates from 12 colonies (GA) decide what to do about the Intolerable/Coercive and the Quebec Acts. 1 vote per colony was represented
Adopted the Suffolk Resolves:
Boycott British Goods,
Don’t obey the Port Bill or Government Act,
Refuse to pay taxes for Port Bill,
Support a secret colonial legislature, and
Create an Armed Militia -
Lexington and Concord
British went to Concord (while Americans were drunk) and blew up the colonists’ gunpowder and weapons. No Americans were killed, but then Americans attacked the British on their way back to Boston -
Lord Dunmore Proclamation
(Virginia’s royal governor) told Africans to run from owners and join British for freedom. 5,000 to 10,000 were taken by the British to Jamaica, Canada, and London -
Common Sense - Thomas Paine
'Common Sense’ was a pamphlet arguing for independence from England and the creation of a democratic republic -
Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson, the main author, states:
People have certain Inalienable Rights including Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness
All Men are created equal.
Individuals have a civic duty to defend these rights for themselves and others -
Battle of Saratoga
TURNING POINT OF THE WAR: British went up Hudson River to Albany, to try cutting off New England from the rest of the colonies. Colonists surprised them, the British lost, Americans gained ammunition, canons, etc.
Two huge effects:
The French now openly aid colonies. (Ben Franklin, a diplomat in France who they loved). We signed two treaties: military aid and commerce
British gave up on fighting the North, focused on Southern with the hope of more Loyalists -
African Americans and the War
By 1789, 5/13 states allowed free black men to vote
