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Albany Congress
The British Government had a meeting in Albany, New York because they wanted the 13 Colonies to cooperate in defending themselves against the French. They invited the Iroquois Tribes to hope that they could form an alliance with them against the French. They refused. Ben Franklin of Pennsylvania believed the colonies had to succeed, his newspaper, "Philadelphia Gazette" published a picture if a snake cut in pieces with the warning of, Join, or Die. The colonies rejected the Albany Plan of Union. -
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French and Indian War
French and NA vs. British, Iroquois, and the Colonists fight for control over the Ohio River Valley. The British win, so France lost their entire empire to the British. -
Treaty Of Paris
Britain and France signed the Treaty of Paris. France lost most of their land.Britain gained, French Canada, all of the French's land east of the Mississippi with exception of New Orleans. Britain also received, Spanish Florida. Native Americans lost a great deal. Without French help, the Native Americans could not stop British settlers from moving on their lands. -
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Pontiac's War
Ottwa nation, Pontiac, formed an alliance of Western Native Americans. Pontiac and his allies attacked British forts and settlements throughout the area. Half a dozen Western British forts were destroyed. And about 2,000 back country settlers were killed. British had equal viciousness. They killed Native Americans who had not attacked them. The British won.Pontiac continued to fight for a year longer but then finally stopped in 1764. -
Proclamation of 1763
Britain wanted to avoid further wars with Native Americans on the frontier. So the British government issued the Proclamation of 1763. It banned colonial settlement West of a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains. The settlers were told that they had to move east of the line. The Proclamation angered many of the colonists who believed they had the right to reside wherever they wanted. The Proclamation was ignored and was proved impossible for the British to enforce. -
Sugar Act
British effort to impose taxes on the colonies began in 1764 when Parliament passed the Sugar Act, which put a duty on several products, including molasses. It called for a harsh punishment for smugglers. And for Colonial Merchants who traded smuggled goods had to protest. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act required that all colonists buy special tax stamps for all kinds of products and activities. The stamps had to be placed on news papers, wills, licenses, insurance policies, land titles, contracts and other documents. The protests against the Stamp Act were widespread. Virginia's House of Burgesses passed several resolutions declaring that it alone had the right to tax the people of Virginia. Other colonial assemblies followed Virginia's example. The Protests worked. -
Quartering Act
One year later after the Sugar Act the Parliament passe the Quartering Act. The purpose of this act was to save money. To enforce the Proclamation of 1763, Britain kept 10,000 soldiers in the colonies. This act required the soldiers to quarter, or house, British troops and provide them with food and other things they may need and or supplies The colonists protested angrily. So the Colonists complained that Parliament was violating their rights. -
Boston Masacre
Parliament repealed all the Townshend duties, except one that was on tea. The tax was left in force to demonstrate Parliament's rights to tax the colonies. Parliament had not acted in time. In Boston, an angry crowd of workers and sailors surrounded a small group of soldiers. They yelled at the soldiers and threw snow balls and rocks at the soldiers. So the frightened soldiers fired into the crowd and killing 5 and wounding 6. There were only 2 people convicted so their thumbs got branded. -
Tea Act
The Tea Act was intended to help the British East India Company. It made a lot of money growing tea in India and selling it in Britain and in the Colonies. The colonial boycott of tea hurt the company. The Tea Act lowered the price of the tea by allowing the East India Company to ship tea to the colonies. Fredrick North felt the colonists shouldn't object to the Tea Act since the price was lowered.The East India Company was a monopoly. It hurt colonial merchants. So many of them smuggled tea. -
Boston Tea Party
Colonists called the Sons of Liberty soon organized in port cities to stop the East India Company tea from being unloaded. They threatened ship captains who were bringing in the tea and colonial tea merchants. The tea wasn't unloaded in New York, Philadelphia or other ports. In Boston, Governor Thomas Hutchinson decided to make sure the tea would be unloaded. He refused to give papers that would allow them return it back to England. NA's got on the ship and threw 342 cases of tea overboard. -
The Intorable Acts
The Boston Tea Party outraged the British Government. King George III called for tough action to make examples of the people of Boston and Mass. Parliament passed 4 laws. The first one closed the port in Boston. The second one increased the powers of royal government. The third one abolished the upper house of the Mass.legislature. The fourth one cut the powers of town meetings. They made the Quebec Act which claimed land between the Ohio and Missouri rivers. Colonies reacted by helping Boston. -
First Continental Congress
They had a meeting in Philadelphia. !2 of the 13 colonies sent delegates. Georgia was the only colony that didn't. Among the delegates were John Adams and Samuel Adams from Mass. John Jay from New York, and George Washington and Patrick Henry from Virginia. The congress demanded the repeal of the Intolerable Act and declared hat the colonies had the right to tax and govern themselves. It also called for training of Militias to stand up to stand up the Brtish troops if needed. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
General Thomas Gage sent 700 troops to seize the arms and capture some important colonial leaders. 2 men Paul Revere and Wiliam Dawes, then rode through the night to warn the Minutemen. In Lexington 77 Minutemen were waiting when the British arrived. The British commander told the minutemen to leave but they refused. Then a shot rang out, no one knows who shot first. In Concord 400 Minutemen fought the British killing 3 of them. By the time the British reached Boston 300 were wounded or killed. -
Battle for Fort Ticonderoga
A daring band of colonists made a surprise attack on Fort Ticonderoga. The fort stood at the southern end of Lake Champlain. Ethan Allen was the leader, a blacksmith. Most of his followers came from the nearby Green Mountains, today's Vermont. Allen's fort consisted of 83 men. 42 British men were guarding the fort when they arrived. Fort Ticonderoga was important for 2 reasons. It controlled the route between Canada and the Hudson. And it had cannons which were very useful for The Americans. -
The Second Continental Congress
After the battles colonists still did not favor independence. At the same time, some of them were ready to use force to defend their rights against the British. As the crisis with Britain deepened that is when The Second Continental Congress took place. The delegates were, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, and Ben Franklin. A group of delegates from New England wanted to declare independence. A moderate group from the middle colonies liked less drastic action. It started to act like a government. -
Battles of Breeds and Bunker Hill
Americans surrounding Boston where not trained soldiers. British Genreral William Howe planned to attack Breeds Hill, American commander Israel Putnam knew his men wouldn't have enough ammunition. The first and second British attacks weren't successful, the third was, the American troops ran out of ammunition. The British had won the battle. George Washington arrived and took charge of the army. Washington marched into Boston with cannons, British left Boston and never returned. -
Olive Branch Petition
Two statements called the Two resolutions were passed in July showed the uncertainty of Congress. The fist one was sent to King George. It said that the colonists were loyal to the King. It asked if George could stop the fighting so all disputes between the colonists and Britain could be solved peacefully. The Congress passed a tougher statement the, Declaration of the Causes and Necessities of Taking Up Arms. It stated the colonists were ready, "To die freemen rather than to live as slaves." -
Invasion of Quebec
When Washington was training 2 other American armies were moving to Canada. One left from For Ticonderoga and the other left from north Maine. Arnold from Maine had to go through the mountains and had a terrible trip through them. In December 1775 Americans attacked Quebec. The attack turned back. Montgomery from Fort Ticonderoga was killed, and Arnold was wounded. Americans attend outside of Quebec until May 1776 when British landed new forces in Canada. Weakened by disease and hunger. -
The British Withdrawal from Boston
On March 17 they withdrew from Boston by sea and never returned. Even though Americans won in Boston Washington knew that the war was far from over. Britain had the most advantages. They had a powerful navy. They used it to transport troops and supplies and to blockade. They also strengthened their army with mercenaries.