-
Albany Congress
The meeting took place at Albany, New York. The meeting included the British, the colonial leaders, and the British also invited the Iroquois. The British also wanted to make an alliance with the Iroquois against the French, but the Iroquois refused to make it. The British wanted the colonies to agree and cooperate in defending themselves against the French. The result is Franklin's Plan was approved by The Albany Congress but was rejected by the colonial assemblies. -
Period: to
The French and Indian War
The French and Indian War was a war between the French, Hurons. On the other side was the British, Iroquois, and the colonists. The war was being fought because they both wanted control over the Ohio River Valley. The British won, France lost their entire empire. -
Treaty of Paris
The conference of the Treaty of Paris included Britain and France. The Treaty of Paris was signed in Paris, France. France almost lost all of its North American territory/possessions. France ceded, French Canada to Great Britain, Great Britain also gained all other French territory east of the Mississippi. With exception of New Orleans. Britain also received Spanish Florida. New Orleans west of the Mississippi went to Spain. The French lost everything except for some land. -
Period: to
Pontiac's War
The war was fought between Pontiac's forces allied with Western Native Americans, they were fighting against the British. The Native Americans were fighting desperately for their lands west of the Appalachian Mountains. Nearly six western British forts were destroyed and 2,000 back country settlers were killed. The British finally defeated Pontiac's forces in early August. Pontiac continued fighting for another year and then in the Fall of 1764, the war was over. -
Proclamation of 1763
The proclamation was between the British and the Native Americans. The Proclamation of 1763 was to avoid further wars between Britain and the Native Americans on the frontier. The proclamation banned colonial settlement west of a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains. Some colonists were mad because they believed they had a right to reside wherever they wanted. The Proclamation of 1763 was widely ignored, and was proved impossible to enforce. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act imposed new taxes in the colonies which put a duty on several products, including molasses. It also called for harsh punishment for smugglers. Colonial merchants protested because some of there products were smuggled goods. This was passed to stop smuggling of goods and for Britain to make their debt back. -
Stamp Act
An even more unpopular law than the Sugar Act and The Quartering Act was the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act required that all colonists buy special tax stamps for all kinds of documents. The stamps had to be placed on newspapers, wills, licenses, etc. Patrick, Henry one of the youngest members of the body of Virginia made an emotion speech attacking the law. Merchants in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia organized a boycott. The colonists attempts worked. In 1766, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act. -
The Quartering Act
One year after the Sugar Act, Parliament passed an even more disliked act. The purpose of the Quartering act was to save money. To enforce the proclamation of 1763, Britain kept 10,000 soldiers in the colonies. The Quartering Act required you to house British troops and provide them with basic needs. Colonists protested even more, about the act violating their rights. -
Boston Massacre
Parliament passed the Townshed Acts of 1767, then the colonists boycotted British manufactures and then the they repealed the Townshed Acts of 1767 in 1770. They had not acted in time. On March 5, 1770, in Boston, an angry crowd of workers surrounded British soldiers. Colonists threw snowballs and rocks at them. Some of the British soldiers fired into the crowd killing five and wounding six. The colonists wanted a trial so it came out to convicting 2 of the British soldiers for Manslaughter. -
Tea Act
The British Parliament passed the Tea Act in 1773 and was intended to help the British East India Company. This company was one of the most important companies. The colonists boycotted this company many times and it seriously hurt the company. The Tea Act made it so the East India Company had a monopoly on selling British tea in the colonies. This made it so the company was the only person selling tea to the colonies. The act also lowered the price of tea but still had to pay tax. -
Boston Tea Party
A group of colonists know as the Sons of Liberty organized in port cities to stop the East India Company tea from being unloaded. No tea was unloaded in New York, and other ports. Governor Thomas Hutchinson would make sure the tea was unloaded, so he refused to give the arriving ships papers that would allow them to go back to England. On the night of December 16,1773, a large group of men disguised as Native Americans boarded the tea ship. They threw 342 cases of tea into the harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
The Boston Tea Party made the British government furious. The king wanted to make examples of the people in Boston and Massachusetts. In response to the, "Incident," Parliament passed four laws know as the Intolerable Acts. The first act closed the port of Boston, the second and third law increased the power of the royal governor. The fourth law strengthened the 1765 Quartering Act. Americans in all the colonies reacted by trying to help the people of Boston. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress took place in Philadelphia, the twelve of the thirteen colonies delegates came to the meeting. The only colony who didn't send a delegate was Georgia. The Congress demanded and end to the Intolerable Acts, and the colonies have a right to tax and govern themselves. Also included the training of militias to stand up to British troops if necessary and also called for a boycott of British goods. They would meet again in May 1775 if demands were not met. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The British had no intent of meeting the demands of the Congress, and instead will use force to enforce their acts. The colonies formed a new militia units called minutemen. The new governor of Massachusetts got info of arms that were stored in Concord. He sent 700 troops to seize the arms and capture colonial leaders. Two men warned the minutemen, and in the town of Lexington 77 minutemen were waiting. When the British arrived the minutemen refused to move. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord(2)
Nobody knows who fired the first shot but, it was the first shot of the American Revolution. In the battle of Lexington the British killed eight Americans. A larger battle took place at Concord, this time 400 minutemen fought the British, and killed three of them. As the British retreated, about 4,000 Americas fired at them from behind trees and fences. When the British reached Boston almost 300 of them were wounded or killed. -
Battle for Fort Ticonderoga
The battle took place at Fort Ticonderoga, at the end of Lake Champlain. Leading the American force was Ethan Allen, he had 83 men. The force crossed the lake at night and surprised the British in the early morning. The fort only had 42 British troops guarding the fort, so they almost surrendered immediately. The fort was important for two reasons, it controlled the main route between Canada and the Hudson River Valley. Also it contained powerful weapons, cannons. -
The Second Continental Congress
The Second Congress was in Philadelphia. After the battles most colonists still did not favor independence. They were ready to you force on the British if necessary. The people who attended the Second Continental Congress were Thomas Jefferson, a young lawyer from Virginia, John Hancock, and Benjamin Franklin. Nearly all of the delegates wanted to prepare for war with the British. So, they formed an army, they chose George Washington for commander, they also printed paper money. -
Olive Branch Petition
Many delegates at the Second Continental Congress hoped that they could restore peace between Britain and the American Colonies. The Olive branch Petition was a resolution sent to King George. The petition stated that the colonies were loyal to the king, it also asked the George to stop fighting so all disputes between the colonists and Britain cold be solved peacefully. King George did not bother to answer the petition, and Parliament voted to send 20,000 soldiers to the colonies. -
Battles of Bunker and Breeds Hill
The Americans were not trained soldiers so, no one knew if they could stand and fight against British troops. British General William Howe decided to attack straight up Breed's Hill. The American commander Israel Putnam knew his soldiers didn't have much ammo so, the Americans waited until the British were 150 feet away. The first British attack failed, so did the second, they only won the third attack because the Americans ran out of ammo, so they retreated. British loses were 1000 to 400. -
Invasion of Quebec
Two Americans armies were moving north into Canada, one led by Richard Montgomery and the other led by Benedict Arnold. Arnold had a terrible journey through Maine woods in the winter, they fed on boiled candles, bark, and shoe leather. The American armies attacked Quebec during a severe snowstorm, the attack turned back. Montgomery was killed, and Arnold was wounded. The Americans stayed until May but by weakened by disease and hunger, the Americans withdrew leaving Canada to the British. -
The British withdrawal from Boston
The Battle of Bunker Hill did not solve Britain's problem, Boston was still surrounded by American forces. In July of 1775 George Washington took control of the army. Washington needed powerful weapons, he had the British cannons which took three months to get to Boston. In March Washington placed the cannons on high ground overlooking Boston. The British could not defend the city anymore. On March 17, 1776 they withdrew from Boston by sea and never returned.