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French and Indian War begins
This was the first blood of the French and Indian war. George Washington defeated a French reconnaissance party in Pennsylvania. This war was the last and most important of a series of conflicts between the British and Americans on one side and the French and Native Americans on the other. The colonists liked the French and Indian war because they saw it as an opportuniy to get land in the west and they didn't like the French either. -
French and Indian War ends
The Treaty of Paris was signed in agreement of Britians victory over the French. -
Pontiac's Rebellion
The colonists did not like it because the uprising tried to get settlers and the british out of the region. -
Proclamation of 1763
This proclamation was made by the king which forbade settlers from settling past the Appalation Mountains. This made the colonists very angry because they felt as though they had fought for nothing in the French and Indian War. -
The Sugar Act
This was the tax on molasses. This made the English product cheaper than the French West Indies. This hurt the British West Indies market in molasses and sugar and the market for rum. The colonies had been producing the rum in quantity with the French molasses.This made the colonist angry because the rum they were making wasn't being sold as much because of the Sugar Act. -
The Currency Act
The colonies currency could only be obtained through trade which was regulated by Great Britiain. So they made paper money but it started confusion because they didn't have common regulations and no standard value because they didn't have gold or silver. Parliament passed this act which abolished the colonial bills. The colonies protested this because they suffered a trade deficit with them and the shortage would make it worse. -
The Stamp Act
It was a tax imposed on all American colonists. It required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. The money that it was for was to help pay the costs of defending and protecting the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains. The colonists did not like this because it's purpose was to get money for the British and the colonial legislatures did not agree on it. It was the first British tax directed to American colonists. -
The Quartering Act of 1765
British officers found it hard to persuade colonists to pay for provisioning troops on the march. The laws were supposed to take back hold of the thirteen colonies. The first act was ordering the colonial authorities to pay the cost of housing and feeding of the troops. The colonists did not follow the act and refused to comply with it. They did not like that they would have to do that. -
Patrick Henry's Speech
In his speech he attacked the Stamp Act in debates. He hurled defiance at Parliament. This opened up the eyes of some of the colonists. This made some of them more angry with the Parliament which made them want independence. -
The Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions
Patrick Henry proposed seven resolutions against the Stamp Act. Only the first four were passed by the House in Virginia but it seemed like they were all passed because of the colonial press. This exposed things that could be better than the Stamp Act and made the colonists aware. It made them start to think about independence from Great Britian so they wouldn't have so much control. -
The Stamp Act Congress
It was a meeting held in New York City which consisted of representatives from some of the colonies in North America. It was the first gathering of elected representatives from several of the American colonies. They were devising a unified protest against the new British taxation. This showed that some colonists did not like what the government was doing and kept getting more and more frustrated with them which eventually led up to them wanting to be independent. -
The Declaratory Act
It was from the Parliament of Great Britian which accompanied the repeal of the Stamp Act. They repealed it because the boycotts were hurting British trade. The act stated that Parliament's authority was the same in America as it was in Britian. This made the colonists feel a little better and they weren't as frustrated. They didn't pay attention to this because they were just excited about the repeal of the Stamp Act -
The Townshend Revenue Act
These were taxes on glass, paint, oil, lead, paper, and tea so they could raise money for the administration of the colonies. But this just brought back the colonial hostilities which were created by the Stamp Act. This made the colonists more and more angry. Britian tried to change it but the trade dried up and everything was the same again. -
Boston Non-Important Agreement
These agreements had a chilling effect on the British Mercamts who traded with the colonies. With the Stamp Act repealed the customs offices in the colonies could not collect taxes on goods that were never sold. These agreements reached the ultimite effect in response to the Townshend Revenue Act. This made the colonists happier because the taxes weren't as bad if they didn't sell them. -
The Boston Massacre
This was when five colonists were killed by British regulars.This was the culmination of tensions in the American colonies that had been growing since the War. This made the colonists even more angry and made them think about independence even more. This brought the whole thing to a new level because people had died. -
The Tea Act
This act launched the final spark to the revolutionary movement in Boston. It was designed to prop up the East India Company which wasn't doing well financially and had a lot of unsold tea. This tea was being shipped to the colonies and sold at a bargain price. This direct sale of tea would have the undercut of the buisness of local merchants. The colonists thought the Parliament was trying to add to their taxes so they refused to take the tea. -
The Boston Tea Party
This was a protest against taxation. After the passage of the Tea Act merchants in Boston refused to concede to Patriot pressure while people in Charleston, New York, and Philadelphia rjected tea shipments. Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty boarded three ships in the Boston harbor and threw 342 chests of tea overboard. This pushed the two sides closer to war. We notice during this that the colonies are coming together after one cause to be taxed with representation. -
Intolerable Acts
These were laws that were really punishments on the colonies from King George III. He did this because the British merchants lost a lot of money because of the looted, spoiled, and destroyed goods that were shipped to the colonies. The Boston Massacre brought rebellion throughout the colonies. The colonies were pressed with greater taxes without any representation in Britian with the Intolerable Acts. They wanted the colonies to go back into submission with the King but they kept rebelling. -
The First Continental Congress
All of the colonies sent delegates to the Continental Congress except for Georgia. From this the colonies presented that they were united in a determination to show combined authority to Great Britian. Some wanted to voice colonial rights but a few radical members were ready for separation. It took a few weeks to have discussion and debate. Someone created a plan of the union of the two. Conflict overcame and the plan was discarded. This showed the unity of the colonies against Great Britian. -
The Association
This system was created by the Continental Congress. It was an agreement for the trade boycott with Great Britian. They hoped that Great Britian would be pressured to repeal the Intolerable Acts. They aimed to alter the policies without severing their allegiance. It was fairly successful while it lasted because trade with Great Britian fell sharply. This was another example of how the colonies came together over their anger towards Great Britians policies. -
Galloway's Plan Rejected
This was the plan that was presented to the Continental Congress to bring Great Britian and the colonies back together. This was the plan for compromise. It was really good for most of the members but was rejected by a six to five vote. This meant that Great Britian and the colonies would still be in conflict and the revolutionary war would be closer. -
Ride of Paul Revere
Paul Revere was employed as an express rider to carry news, messages, and copies of resolutions. He was instructed to ride to Lexington, Massachusetts to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that the British troops were marching to arrest them. On the way he alarmed people what was happening. He was soon arrested by British patrol after that. He let the people know what the British were doing and this started the war. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
These battles started off the American Revolutionary War. Tensions that had been building for many years between the American colonies and the British authorities finally came out. The night before hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord to seize the weapons the colonists had. A confrontation in Lexington started off the fighting and the British were soon reatreating under fire. Many battles followed during the war and the colonists finally won their independence in 1783
