-
Albany Plan of Union
Ben Franklin proposed a plan for uniting the colonies. The rejected it because it gave too much power to an assembly made up of representatives from all thirteeen colonies. -
Period: to
Fench and Indian war
This war started as a struggle between the French and British over lands in western Pennsylvania. By 1756 Several other European countries got involved. Great Britain won in 1763 and gained complete control of the eastern 3rd of the continent. -
George III becomes king of Great Britain
When Goergey became king he had different ideas about how the colonies should be governed. -
Stamp Act
This Act imposed the first direct tax on the colonists. It required them to pay a tox on legal documents, pamphlets, newspapers, and even dice and playing cards. Parliment also passed lows regulating colonial trade in ways that benefited Great Britain but not the colonies. -
Stamp Act Congress
Nine colonies sent delegates to a meeting in New York called the Stamp Act Congress. This was the first meeting organized by the colonies to protest King George's actions. Delegates of the Congress sent patitions to the King, arguing that only colonial legislatures could impose direct taxes such as the Stamp Act. -
Boston Tea Party
Im a rebel against the Stamp Act a gorup of colomists dressed as Mohawk Indians and dumped 342 chests of British tea into the Boston Harbor. -
Coercive Acts
In response to the Tea Party Parliment passed the Coercive Acts, which the colonists called the Intolerable Acts. One of these Acts closed the Boston Harbor. Another withdrew the right of the Massachisettes colony to govern itself. -
Committees of Corrospondence
These committees were urging resistance to the British. They consisted of coloniests who wanted to keep in touch with one another as events unfolded. Samual Adams established the first committee in Boston. Massachusettes had more than 80 committees. Prominent members if the Virginia committee were Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry. -
First Continental Congress
The Intolerable Acts promted Virginia and Massachusettes to call a general meeting of colonies. All the colonies except Georgia met in Philadelphia. They emposed ab embargo, an agreement that prohibited trade, on Britain and agreed not to use British goods. They also proposed a meeting the following year if Britain didn't change its policies. -
Lexington and Concord
British Redcoats clashed with colonial minutemen at Lexington and Concord in Massachusettes. This was the first battle of the Revolutionary War. -
Second Continental Congress
WIthing three weeks after Lexington and Concord, delegated from all 13 colonies gathered in Philidephia for the second time. The continental Congtress immediately assumed the powers of a central government. John Hancock as president. They organized an army and navy, issued money, and appointed George Washington as commander of the Continenetal Army. -
Resolution of Indepedence
More than a year after the fighting had begun in the colonies, Richard Henry Lee declared independence. Lee Introduced a resolution in the Continental Congrss "That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states. -
Declaration of Independence
After Lee's resolution the Congress named a committee to prepare a written Declaration of Independence. The committee included: John Adams, Ben Frankilin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Liningston, and Roger Sherman. Thomas Jefferson wrote the draft. On June 28th the committe submitted and edited the draft to the Congress. on July 2md the Congress approved of Lee's revolution. The colonies officially broke from Great Britain. On July 4th the Congress approved Jefferson's final draft.
