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French And Indian War
in the 1770's there was land called the Ohio River Valley that both the English, and the French wanted. both wanted the land for the cheap fertile farmland. The English General Dinnwiddie sent George Washington on this journey to claim the land. George shot the first shot at the French commander, and this started the French And Indian War. this war lasted 7 years and was considered to be the first world war. in the end the English did win, and George was declared the first president of the U.S. -
Proclamation of 1763
The proclamation of 1763 was when the colonists could not settle in the land that they had fought for. This made the colonist very angry. They established this proclamation because they could not afford a war with the natives. The British wanted to make a good relationship with the Native Americans because the British were already in debt from there last war so they needed to be very careful not to start another. -
The Sugar Act
In the Sugar Act a British tax was placed on all sugar. This was a big deal partially because they had many uses for sugar. This tax required the British to pay a 3 cent tax on sugar, and raised the existing tax on coffee. The tax was put on England so the British could get out of debt. The colonists were mostly upset not because of the tax but because they had no representation. -
The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act required that a British governments stamp be placed on all important documents such as court papers, almanacs, pamphlets, newspapers, and even playing cards. The colonists thought it was unfair to be taxed while they had no representation in Parliament. The Stamp Act Congress said that the only taxation they would accept to be placed on the colonies would have to come from the assembles elected by the colonists themselves. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts is when the British placed taxes on there paper, glass, paint , and tea that was imported to the colonies. This act was placed to get out of debt from the French and Indian war. This act shows that England had power over all of the colonies. The angry colonists tried to publicly complain about the taxes, boycott the items, and even sometimes smuggled some of the goods. The colonists were very angry about being taxed so often by the British. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was when some angry colonists were harassing British soldiers. The colonists were doing this because they were constantly being taxed without representation. Colonists were throwing snowballs, and sticks at the British, "lobster scoundrels" they yelled. One of the colonists was screaming "shoot" at the British kind of like a dare, and one of the British soldiers thought it was the general Prescot saying it so he shot, and following after 7 more shot and it caused a fight. -
Committees Of Correspondence
On this day Samuel Adams leader of the Patriot Rebel group founded the first Committee of Correspondence. These Committees were made up to share information about each new issue found in the developing crisis the England. The communication between the 13 colonies helped them to start cooperating better. -
The Tea Act/The Boston Tea Party
This act happened because the British were trying to get out of war debt by taxing the colonists on British tea. The British had 18 million pounds of unsold tea that they taxed the colonists on. 60 angry colonists dressed as Mohawk Indians raided the British ship and dumped 342 crates of tea into the harbor. -
Coercive (Intolerable) Acts
On this day four acts happened. The Boston harbor closed until the Boston Tea Party was all paid for. A British soldier was arrested for murder in the colonies, but then sent to England for a "fair" trials. The England trials had a biased view for the British soldiers and ended up with an advantage. There was also a quartering act which made the colonists house, feed, and all together take care of the British troops.The colonists even lost the right to govern themselves. -
The First Continental Congress
Representatives from 12 colonies came together to express, and discuss their outrage from the crisis with England.This group included John Adams, George Washington, John Jay, Samuel Adam, and many others. The group sent a petition to King George III to confirm to him that they were still loyal to him, and that they believed it was unfair for Parliament to tax the colonies without representation in it. This changed history because it was the first time they were a united government. -
The Battle Of Lexington And Concord
Hundreds of British soldiers were sent to confiscate weapons from the colonies, but run into a group of 60 untrained militiamen, free African Americans, and slaves. The militias Captain, Captain Parker, ordered that they stand their ground and do not fire unless they need to. Nobody knows who shot the first shot "the shot heard around the world". At the end of the battle 8 patriots were dead, and 7 wounded. This war was so important because it was the start of the American Revolution.
