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French-Indian War
The French and British engaged in war and solicited Native Americans to help them. The Britich were allies with the Huron, the French with the Iroquois. The two Europeans armies had the right idea when they chose their allies and armed them with guns. The Native Americans were enemies already, but had only been able to battle with "primitive" weapons until the white men came along. Arming the Native Americans with guns led to mass murder among them. -
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Causes of the American Revolution
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Proclamation of 1763
After winning the French-Indian War, King George realized he still had to protect the colonists that were in North America, so he wrote the Proclamation of 1763. The colonists were not to pass the Appalachian mountains and therefore the King wouldn't have a guilty conscience if they got slaughtered by the "savages". Needless to say, The colonists completely ignored this Proclamation, and there was nothing King George could do about it. He just didn't have the troops needed to enforce it. -
The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was basically a new tax on colonists to help pay off the debts left over from the French-Indian War. The colonists were extremely angry about this because the whole reason they had come the North America was that taxes were a lot lower than in England. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act also infuriated the colonists, because it stated that they had to provide food and board for British troops, who they really didn't like anyway. Not to mention the colonists had a good five children at least to provide for, in addition to any extended family living in the house. -
Townshend Duties
Once again, King George topped most colonists' hate list. This time, he was right up there with Charles Townshend, who proposed the Townshend Duties. The Townshend Duties basically reinforced the fact that Britain had the right to tax the colonies extensively. The Townshend Duties were the final straw for many of the colonists. -
Boston Massacre
Because of the opposition of the Townshend Duties, British troops began to occupy Boston, much like present day "Occupy Wall Street" protestors. The colonists, of course, were not happy, so they attacked the British troops. The British troops fought back out of self defense, and five Americans were killed. So technically it's not a massacre. -
Tea Act
The Tea Act of 1773 was yet another tax, this time on tea. The colonists, who loved tea as much as their British counterparts, were extremely mad about this. King George was fast losing his colonial followers. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was led by colonists who, for some unfathomable reason, were dressed up as Native Americans. Not very convincingly, mind you, but enough that no one could recognize them. The colonists were actually very amiable. They paid for the locks broken, and simply wanted to make a point. They didn't want to be taxed as much as their relatives across the sea. -
The Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were actually four different laws designed to make an example of Massachusetts and prevent the other colonies from revolting.
1. The Boston Port Act
2. The Massachusetts Government Act
3. The Administration of Justice Act
4. The Quartering Act -
First Continental Congress
It was a response to the Intolerable Acts. 56 delegates were sent from every colony except Georgia, which wasn't really considered a colony at the time. They considered and rejected such ideas as an economic boycott of British trade, and stuff like that, but eventually petitioned King George. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
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Second Continental Congress
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Battle of Bunker Hill
The colonists were stationed on Bunker Hill, then known as Breed's Hill, and the British wanted them out. While the colonists technically lost the battle, being forced off Breed's Hill, they won in a completely different way. The British lost almost 900 troops, which was about half the army that attacked. The Americans won in the fact that they didn't lose nearly as many troops. -
Olive Branch Petition
This was basically a letter to King George stating that the colonies really didn't want to fight. They didn't have the supplies, or the money, and technically they were dependent on Great Britain. Of course, King George refused to even read the letter. -
Battle for New York
The Battle for New York was actually a series of battles in which the colonists got their butts kicked. The British literally had the Americans backed into a corner--that is, the island of Manhattan. The British surrounded them on three sides, and thought that George Washington wouldn't dare try to escape by sea. Wrong. On the dawn of the day that they would have had to surrender, a huge dense fog came up, allowing the American troops to get their butts out of there. -
Thomas Paine's Common Sense
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Washington's Crossing
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Battle of Monmouth Courthouse
George Washington led his man to attack the tail end of the British army in what became known as the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse. They fought long and hard, but the engagement was forced to close due to the setting sun.
