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French Ambassador is killed near the Forks of the Ohio
On May 28,1754 near the Forks of the Ohio, a small British force ambushesd a French scouting party at the battle of De Jumonville. The British forces killed most of the party and it is legend that an Indian leader allied with the British split the ambassador's head in two! This, though, is legend and not fact so he could have simply been killed by musket fire. The Battle of De Jumonville is named after the French ambassador Joseph Coulon De Jumonville -
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Timespan of French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars
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Battle of the Monongahela
On July 9, 1755 near the Monongahela River, 800 French and Indian troops fought 1,300 British troops at the Battle of the Monongahela. In the battle, though the British troops had the advantage of numbers, the French and Indians had the environment on their side as the battle was fought on an Indian hunting ground and this was the crucial factor of the battle. As the British took heavy casualties from French and Indian soldiers in the trees they began to retreat. -
Battle of the Monongahela (continued)
Retreating was a bad idea because this caused the British to bunch up with the rear of their army and made them easy targets for the French and Indians. In the end the British ran from the battlefield as the Indians chose not to pursue the fleeing British. In all, 1,000 of the British soldiers in the battle were killed or wounded while the French suffered just 100 killed or wounded. This was one of the worst British defeats ever and the battle caused them to think twice about this war. -
Battle of Quebec
The Battle of Quebec was a short, quick, dramatic end of the three month Seige of Quebec which was the first nail in the coffin for the French occupation of America. The battle of the Plains of Abraham took 15 minutes to complete which was the complete opposite of what the seige had been. It was a close range fighting battle and the French simply broke ranks and ran. The Brits then took the city of Quebec. While there was another battle to retake the city by the French in 1760 it was a failure. -
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris was a treaty that ended the 7 Years War between France, Spain and England. England was the victor and won territory, mostly in North America. But, to try to avoid another war with France, they ceded most of the land they won to Spain. The map shows the land distrubution of the treaty. -
The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was passed on March 22, 1765. Many colonists hated this act because it denied them their right to govern and tax themselves. This act was passed to cover war debts from the 7 Years War. But, after countless burnings of stamp paper, refusing to pay the tax, and riots by the colonists the act was repealed on March 18, 1766 -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill was a battle fought in the American Revolution on June 17, 1775 on Breed's Hill, not Bunker Hill. The battle consisted of three assaults on the colonists by the British, the third of which was sucessful. It was a basic battle in tactics as the British simply tried to take the Colonists' position on the hill. The only reason this battle is considered a victory for the British is that the colonists ran out of ammunition. The casualties of the British were nearly 1,000! -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was ratified by congress on July 4,1776. The Declaration of Independence declared a new nation separate from Great Britian destined to be one of the great superpowers of the age. The document was a very important event in the American Revolution, as it turned the conflict from an uprising to a Revolution. -
Battle of Trenton
The Battle of Trenton was a desperation surprise attack by George Washington to convince his soldiers to sign on for more time, as their contracts ended on New Year's Eve. The battle was a three pronged attack from North of Trenton, south of the city and into the city. The hardest part of the battle plan was the crossing of the half-frozen Delaware River which caused two detachments of the force not to be able to join the battle. Even with only 2,400 Washington captured Trenton and 1,000 troops. -
Battle of Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga was actually a combination of two battles, the first being on September 19, 1777 and the second on October 7, 1777. I am going to tell you about the second battle as it is the decisive one. The battle came down to the commander, Johnny Burgoyne, not getting reinforcements. Because of this, Burgoyne, when he decided to attack, had only 5,000 men. The colonists on the other hand had 12,000 men and the result of this was that 1/5 of the British army were killed or wounded. -
Seige of Yorktown
The Seige of Yorktown was a joint operation of the French and the Americans who, in two months, had marched from New York to Yorktown to meet up with the French fleet (who would only be available until October 14) where the bulk of the British army was camped at Yorktown. The seige began on September 28 and the British ordered their troops to guard the town itself tightly as their commanding general had sent them a letter saying rescue is on the way. -
Seige of Yorktown (continued)
The seige progressed as the Americans smashed the British fortification, then moved their bombarding equipment to where that fortification had been. Then, on October 16, as the gunfire intensified on the city, the Brtish tried in desperation to evacuate across the York River but a squall prevented this. On October 17, the British surrendered. On October 19, 1781 surrender terms were agreed upon and 8,000 British soldiers were taken captive. -
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolutionary War with the Americans as the victors. Important points of this document are: it gave the Americans independence from England, gave that new nation all the land on North America east of the Mississipi River (except Florida) and that both America and Great Britian were entitled to use the Mississipi River. The first to ratify the treaty was America, on January 17, 1784, with France and England ratifying on May 12 and April 9 respectively.
