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The Albany Congress
In Albany, New York the British invited the 13 colonies as well as the Iroquois tribe to form an alliance against the French. The Iroquois refused to join since they were expecting the French to win The French and Indian War. The 13 colonies worked out a plan to defend themselves. Ben Franklin made a plan called the Albany Plan of Union. Although it included urgent matters like authority over western settlements and relations with the Native Americans the colonial assemblies rejected it. -
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The French And Indian War
The French, Algonquin & Huron were fighting against the British, Iroquois & colonists. The war was fought for control over the Ohio River Valley. The British won The French and Indian War. France lost their entire empire. -
The Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris signed in Paris France, the French ceded all of French Canada to Great Britain. Spanish Florida, and French territory east of the Mississippi is all that Great Britain received. New Orleans and all of the territory west of the Mississippi went to Spain. This is the outcome of The French and Indian War. -
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Pontiac's War
On the last days of The French and Indian War, Pontiac, leader of the Ottawa nation formed an alliance with the western Native Americans because they desperately hoped to keep their land. Together the natives attacked British forts and settlements. This caused the British to unleash their anger since 2,000 settlers were killed. The British fought back, technically winning the battle in August. Although the war was actually finished by September of the following year. -
The Proclamation of 1763
The British wanted to try to avoid further wars with the Native Americans. Which is the reasoning for creating the proclamation. It banned colonial settlement that was west of a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains, instead settlers had to move to a location east of the line. This caused widespread anger for the colonists causing the Proclamation of 1763 to be almost entirely ignored. -
The Sugar Act
Britain started to raise an effort to impose new taxes on all 13 colonies. The Parliment put import tax on many products including molasses. There was cruel punishment for those who would smuggle. Many colonial merchants who have previously smuggled started to protest. -
The Stamp Act
The stamp act passed by the Parliament required that all newspapers, wills, and other documents, products and activities should have special tax stamps placed on them. The colony of Virginia voiced out its frustration following other the colonies. Merchants from New York, Virginia, and Philadelphia boycotted the stamped British goods. The other colonies followed. By October nine of the colonies sent a petition to the Parliament and king. This ended the Stamp Act as well as the Sugar Act. -
The Quartering Act
Parliment passed this act in hopes to save money. The way to succeed the act was to keep about 10,000 soldiers in the colonies. Colonists would have to house,provide food and other nesscities to the soldiers. Yet again the Colonists were angered by the British by violating their very own rights. -
The Boston Massacre
Boycotting was hurting many British merchants. The Parliament repealed the previous Townshend duties except for tea. Actions took place in Boston, a crowd of angry colonists surrounded six soldiers and started throwing snowballs and rocks. The soldiers started to fire in the crowd ending up killing five and wounding six. This caused chaos throughout Boston. Governor Thomas Hutchinson arrested nine soldiers. John Adams defended the soldiers. Two soldiers were convicted. -
The Tea Act
The British Parliament passed the Tea Act in 1773. The act was going to help and support the British East India Company. This company was very crucial for the British. The Tea Act lowered the price of the tea but it gave the East India Company a monopoly on selling the British Tea in the colonies. This angered colonists especially merchants who use to rely on the tea for profit. The merchants would sell smuggled Dutch tea instead. Regardless, you had to pay tax for the tea. -
The Boston Tea Party
A group of colonists by the name of the Sons of Liberty were disgusted by the Tea Act and wanted to stop it. No tea was unloaded in ports such as Philadelphia and New York but in Boston you could unload tea . On December 16 of 1773 the Sons of Liberty took action. Diguising themseves as Native Americans they jumped on a unloaded tea ship right next the Harbor. Three hours later 342 cases of tea worth thousands of dollars was dumped into the harbor. It was a tea party indeed. -
The Intolerable Acts
The Boston Tea Tea party left the British Government in complete rage. The British Parliament passed four harsh laws directed towards the colonies including the closing of the Boston port, increasing powers of the Quartering Act, cutting town meetings, and eliminating the upper house of Massachusetts legislature. Colonists helped Boston in anyway possible by sending numerous products. -
The First Continental Congress
In September and October in Philadelphia The First Continental Congress was held. Twelve delegates from the 13 colonies came together to repeal the Intolerable Acts. They also voiced that they had the right to tax and govern themselves. Other requests included the right to train militias to stand against the British troops and a new boycott for British goods. If the demands were denied they would meet again in May of the following year. -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
After the First Continental Congress the British did not plan to meet delegates' demands. General Gage sent troops to capture colonial leaders and the arms the minutemen were storing. Revere and Dawes rode to warn the minutemen so 77 minutemen were waiting in Lexington. When the British arrived they demanded they go home. Then there was a shot, the first of the American Revolution. An even greater battle occurred in Concord. By the end, 300 British died or were wounded in the retreat to Boston. -
The Second Continental Congress
After the previous battles of Lexington and Concord many colonists would use force if needed to gain independence yet many did not. In Philadelphia The Congress had a plan of what to do if war was to break out. The first step was to form an army. The Congress choose George Washington as the commander of the Continental army. He was well respected and had the exerprince needed. The last step was to print paper money. This would be used to pay for the army. -
Battle for Fort Ticonderoga
A surprise attack was held by Ethan Allen and the 83 men in his force. The fort was at the southern end of Lake Champlain. This was crucial to have because it controlled a main water route between Canada and the Hudson River Valley. Also it held very valuable weapons. In the night they reached the fort and attacked in the day. The British troops surrendered. Leaving the Green Mountain boys with their land and a dozen seized cannons. They would be used to drive the British away from Boston. -
Battles of Bunker and Breeds Hill
10,000 American troops surrounded Boston and 1,600 were on Breed's Hill. In this position, they could fire on ships in Boston Harbor. Right by was Bunker Hill. British General Howe wanted to attack Breed's Hill. The 1st two attacks failed. The 3rd succeeded because the Americans were running out of ammunition. The attacks didn't solve Britain's problems. Washington took charge of the army, building a strong one. The British couldn't defend Boston, so they left. Britain still had some advantages. -
The Olive Branch Petition
The Second Continental Congress thought that peace might be the solution between Britain and the American Colonies. The first resolution passed was the Olive Branch Petition stating that colonists were loyal to the king and wanted to solve problems with peace. Following was another much more tougher and straight forward statement. Both were sent to the King. King George did not open either. Parliament then voted to send 20,000 soldiers to the colonies to end the revolt. -
Invasion of Quebec
Two American armies were heading north to Canada. One was led by Benedict Arnold which moved north through Maine and Richard Montgomery led the others left through Fort Ticonderoga. It was a bitter journey. The Americans attacked Quebec during a severe snowstorm. The attack failed Arnold was wounded and Montgomery dead. They stayed outside of Quebec until May of next year. Finally they withdrew the land when the British reached. -
The British Withdrawal from Boston.
George Washington built a strong army after the success of Battle of Bunker Hill. He seized and then sent British cannons over to Boston. By March the British could no longer defend the city. This caused the British to sail far from Boston and never return. Britain still had advantages. They were the most powerful navy in the world. They could blockade the American ports as well as hire mercenaries for their army.