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Life in the Colonies Prier to 1763
Life was less difficult and happy because they didn't have to worry about British attacks. Also, they still had to work on the farms but they were free to worship any time they wanted. There was still no freedom for slaves. -
French and Indian War
It started in 1754 and ended in 1758. This leads to the British having complete control of the east coast. It also makes King George III change his mind... -
Proclamation of 1763
Faced with a problem of the Native Americans, King George III Split the Appilation Mountains in half (not literally), and gave the west side to the Natives and the East coast to the colonists. The colonists did not agree with that and they said King George III was acting like a Tyrant. King George III ignored them. -
The Stamp Act
This is a tax that made the colonists pay for every sheet of paper that the colonists bought. The colonists responded with violence. They burned down tax collecters houses, tared them, and humiliated them. -
The Quartering Act
This was a tax that Parliament was going to pass, that made the colonists pay for the debt caused from the war. -
Townshend Duties
It was a series of laws passed. Tax was put on glass, paper, and tea. It was to help pay the salaries of the governers and judges. The colonists reacted by not buying the merchindise. This was repealed eventually (except for tea), but, it brought on the Boston Tea Party. -
Boston Massacre
It was a "massacre" that killed 5 colonists. It started when a man was harrassing a Red Coat named John Goldfinch, on March 5, 1770. A mob started and they threw ice at the British. One of the mobs clubs hit one of the Red Coats and he fired. That was the Boston Massacre. -
Tea Act
Parliament repealed all the taxes except for tea. This made the colonists angry. They had tried multiple times to tell King George III that they didn't want to pay taxes to Britain. He refused everything they asked. The colonists tried one more thing to try and get hime to get the picture. They thought this would deffinetly work... -
Boston Tea Party
The colonists dressed up as Native Americans, went on the British ship, and dumped all the Tea! They dumped 342 boxes of tea in one night. They broke the locks, opened the boxes, and dumped them into the water. The British didn't even try to stop them! They shouted in Victory, but King George III refused to let off the tax. Instead, he decided it was time they needed a punishment. -
Intolerable Acts
This was the punishment King George III set up for the colonists. He was very upset and wanted to regain control of the colonists. Parliament (out of anger) passed and new, harsh set of laws that the colonists had to follow. This enraged the colonists. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Red Coats wanted weapons and gun powder. The colonists were hiding it, so they marched down to Lexington and they ran into a bunch of "ready to fight" colonists. Somebody fired and the fight began. Britain won, and they looked for the weapons, but they colonists knew they were coming and hid them somewhere else. Then the Bristish went to Concord, and they colonists were ready to fight. They won and showed the British they were willing to die for their rights! -
Siege of Boston
The colonists took cannons from fort Tichonderoga. They put the cannons high on a hill looking over Boston. The British were defeated and retreated to Canada. -
Battle at Bunker Hill
They actually fought at Breed's Hill. The colonists met the British with suprise. The colonists had an advantage being on the hill. The British thought the Americans would run in fright, but they didin't. They showed them they were willing to fight for what they believed in. The British won, only because the colonists ran out of gun powder, and they had lost more then 1,000 men and more wounded. The colonists only lost around half of that. -
Writing of the Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. Originally it had a paragragh about how the King brought slavery into the colonies. They took it out because they didn't think that was right to have it in there. That was on July 2, 1775. It was one last letter to the King, telling him they were going independent. -
Olive Branch Petiton
This was another letter. It was a last effort to make peace with Britain, but of course King George III ignored it. He called them "rebels" and that they had to be brought to justice. At that moment, the colonists stared considering the "independance", or they considered themselves slaves. -
Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"
This was a pamphlet that persuaded the idea that Independance was good. It changed the mind of a lot of colonists. It says that the colonists should be independant but the British are holding them back. -
Battle of New York
Washington learned he must retreat because they were losing by fighting they way the British were. They can't fight in an open field. A series of battles occured over months to take one of the largest ports in the colonies. The whole idea was the British taking New York. Washinton basically got his butt kicked. -
Thomas Paine's "The American Crisis"
Thomas Paine looked at the American soldjers and was ashamed. Men couldn't wait till their term was up. Paine wrote another pamphlet and called the colonists "chickens" (in his own words) and this motivated the colonists to countinue fighting. -
Battle of Trenton
George Washington decided to suprise the Hessions in New Jersey. On Christmas Washington and his men sailed across the Delaware River and suprised them. The Hession leader had let his guard down. That cost him his life. And an American victory. This helped the colonists perserve through the rest of the wars. -
Battle of Saratoga
This is the Battle where the Continental Army wins and gain victory over the British. This battle convinces the French and Spanish to help the Americans in the war. -
Valley Forge
Washington is forced to create a camo that protects Pennsylvania from the British that are accupying Philadelphia. The American Army is officially created. -
Battle of Monmouth Courthouse
This is the only battle that the Americans are able to defeat Britain using European Style fighting. This battle shows that the Americans can still fight. -
Southern Campaigns
So the Southern Campaigns were and couple of battles in the south. These are in the south because the British thought they would have a better chance at winning because they thought there was more loyalists. The Americans lost almost everyone in the south and it was there worst defeat. The two battles were, Savannah- December 29, 1778 and Charles Town- May 12, 1780. -
Battle of Yorktown
The "Battle of Yorktown" was the last battle of the Revolutionary War. The British were in New York and on an island. They had their boats in the bay just in case they needed to retreat and get away. The French join with the Americans and they block any British boats coming in or out. The British were stuck when George Washington started to close in on them. The British surrendered and the Americans won the war! -
Impact of the War
Although America won the war, they had a LOT of obsticles still in the way. Almost 25,700 Americans died, 1,400 were missing, and about 8,200 were still wounded. British only lost about 10,000 men. Also the Americans were about 27 million dollars in debt, and on top of that they had an unstable government. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris finallized America's independence. Some of the agreements on the Treaty are:
1. England had to acknowledge America as Independent
2. The United States of America now get the land up to the Mississippi River
3. We now can fish in Newfoundland without getting attacked. -
USA
Nowdays, as a result of the Americans gaining Independence, we are "The United States of America"!
