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French And Indian War
The French and Indian War was a continuation of a series of wars that had taken place between the French and British in North America. The French controlled the Mississippi River and claimed the Ohio River Valley as well. They began building forts in the area. The British started to build their own forts -
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Causes to the revulotionary war
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Quartering Act
With the end of the French and Indian War, the British decided to maintain a larger troop deployment in North America. The problem was the cost. One of the solutions to keep down that cost was to expect the colonies to provide quarters for the soldiers. As a result, the "Quartering Act", directed the colonies to construct sufficient barracks for the troops. It further stated that if there was not sufficient space for the solidiers in the barracks, then local inn keepers would have to put up sol -
Stamp Tax
The stamp tax was a tax that was imposed on every document or newspaper printed or used in the colonies. The taxes ranged from one shilling a newspaper to ten pounds for a lawyers license, Everything a colonist needed to was taxed. The income was to be directed to pay the cost of defending the colonies.The colonist particulary objected to the fact that violation of the taxes would be prosecuted by in Admiralty Courts and not by jury trials. The tax was approved with no debate,. -
Surger Act
To make matters worse, Parliament passed the Stamp Act on March 22, 1765. The Stamp Act required Americans to purchase tax stamps for any printed documents including newspapers, legal documents, marriage licenses and more. On March 24th, Parliament passed the Quartering Act which required Americans to provide housing and provisions to British soldiers. Colonists wondered why troops were being sent to America after the French and Indian War. Many believed the troops were sent over to suppress fre -
Sons of Liberty
The passage of the Stamp Act created the first sustained opposition to the British. The opposition was not only political. The opposition also took the form of demonstrations, rioting and other acts of violence. The violent actions were not spontaneous. The actions were coordinated and implemented by a new organization called "The Sons of Liberty". The Sons of Liberty was founded in the summer of 1765 by a group of shopkeepers and artisans in Boston. The founders of the group were not the most p -
British Troops Land in Boston to Maintain Order-1768
The decision by the British to dispatch troops to Boston was one of their worst decisions, in an entire series of bad moves, that helped make the eventual independence of America inevitable. The British government reacted to the Americans, and specifically to the Massachusetts opposition to the Townshend act by dispatching troops to Boston. This might have been the correct policy if the opposition was just made up of a few firebrands. The British, however, misread the opposition, which was wide -
Boston Massacre-1770
From the moment the British decided to send troops to Boston it was only a matter of time before British troops were likely to clash with the colonists. That day came on March 5th 1770. In that early evening a British sentry was guarding the custom house on King Street, (what is today "State Street" in downtown Boston.) Colonists began to taunt the sentry. Soon a crowd grew. With the crowd growing, the Officer of the Day, Captain Thomas Preston, ordered seven or eight soldiers under his command -
Colonist Burn the Revenue Cutter Gaspee
The Gaspee was a hated British revenue schooner. On June 9, 1772 Captain Thomas Lindsay commanded the Hannah set forth from Newport to Providence. He was afraid he would be stopped by the hated Gaspee comanded by Lietenant William Dudinsgston, and vowed not to let the Gaspee stop her. Lindsay lured the Gaspee into following him into shallow waters and the Gaspee ran aground. When news that the hated Gaspee had run aground galvanized Americans to act . A groupd of 60 men led by Captain Whipple se -
Declaration of Independence
The main purpose of America’s Declaration of Independence was to explain to foreign nations why the colonies had chosen to separate themselves from Great Britain. The Revolutionary War had already begun, and several major battles had already taken place. The American colonies had already cut most major ties to England, and had established their own congress, currency, army, and post office. On June 7, 1776, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Richard Henry Lee voiced a resolution that the Unit -
Constitutional Convention
It was soon becoming apparent that the Articles of Confederation were insufficient as a means of governing the nation. Important legislators such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison quickly realized the importance of establishing national laws to prevent the states from becoming independent countries on their own. The new United States< was on the verge of collapse due to a lack of monetary funds, and a series of rebellions. Shays's Rebellion, in Massachusetts, was an uprising of debtor farmer -
Bill of Rights
Despite the ratification of the United States Constitution, American citizens became concerned that there was no formal document to outline their personal freedoms. Many politicians, however, believed a bill of rights was not necessary for a government based on popular consent. Furthermore, individual state constitutions already guaranteed many rights.
