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French and Indian War
The French and Indian War started over land conflicts. The English colonies wanted to expand west on French and Indian land. The Native group Iroquois League allied with the English in hopes that in the future the English would become more sympathetic. The English won the war, The Treaty of Paris was established by the mother country England. The treaty required France to give up almost all their land. -
Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was established by the mother country England after the French and Indian War. It was established to settle land disputes between the colonists and the Natives. The document reserved land west of the Appalachian Mountains for Indians. The colonies gain a great deal of valuable land. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was proposed by George Grenville, this act taxed sugar and molasses from England. The Sugar Act was passed to help pay off the war debt after the French and Indian War.This act mainly affected the colonists in the north because that's where majority of the rum was made. The colonists started smuggling goods in instead of paying the tax. If a colonist was caught smuggling they were sent back to England for a trial. www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/sugar-act/view/quick-facts/ -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament, as the first direct tax on the colonies. This Act required all the colonists to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper. The printed paper included legal documents, newspapers, ship's papers, and even playing cards. This act encouraged The Sons of Liberty. This group protested and even harassed British stamp agencies.
www.history.org/history/teaching/tchcrsta.cfm -
Quartering Act
Parliament placed the Quartering Acts on the colonies after the French and Indian War. The war has been over for two years at this point and the soldiers had not gone home yet. The colonists could not understand why the soldiers weren't going home, they took this as a threat from England. The colonists had to provide food, drink, and living space to the British soldiers. -
Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act Congress lasted about three weeks. The Congress included 27 representatives and they met in New York's city hall to discuss the Stamp Act. The representatives drew up a "Declaration of the Rights and Grievances of the Colonists". The document explained that Parliament could not tax them because the colonies did not have representatives there. England's response was the Declaratory Act repealing the stamp act but also explained they had the right to tax and rule the colonies. -
Declaratory Act
The Declaratory Act was a declaration that accompanied the repeal of the Stamp Act. This act declared Parliament's authority was the same England as it was in the colonies. Meaning they had the right to rule and tax the colonies. -
Townshend Acts
George Grenville was the prime minister who passed the Townshend Acts. The Acts were established to tax goods such as lead, paper, glass, and tea from England. The tax was needed to pay off war debt from the French and Indian War. The colonies did not like the taxation and began boycotting English goods. Attached to this was the "Writs of Assistance". The "Writs of Assistance" gave customs officers the right to search any house or building for smuggled goods without a search warrant. -
Boston Massacre
- The Boston Massacre occurred after an encounter of a group of angry colonists and British soldiers.
- The British soldiers fired into a crowd of colonists, killing 5. The first death was Crispus Attucks who marked the first death of the Revolutionary War.
- The British soldiers claimed they heard Captain Thomas Preston say to fire, there is no proof that he actually said it.
www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/massacre.html
- The Boston Massacre occurred after an encounter of a group of angry colonists and British soldiers.
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Boston Tea Party
The Sons of Liberty, lead by Samuel Adams were responsible for the Boston Tea Party. They were protesting the Tea Act. The Act put a tax on all tea imported from England. The colonies refused to pay the tax so three ships sat in the Boston Harbor with tea in them.
- The Sons of Liberty dressed as Mohawk Indians and boarded the ships.
- They dumped 342 chests of tea into the Harbor valued at about $18,000.
When England found out they were outraged and then passed the Intolerable Acts. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were a series of laws passed by England. There were five laws under this act. Four of the laws were to punish the Massachusetts colonists for the Boston Tea Party. The laws shut the Boston Harbor, shut down their local government, stated all trials to be held in England, required colonists to feed and shelter soldiers, the last law related to Quebec and Ohio. The north was mainly affected by this. The colonies started a way of word called the Committees of Correspondence. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress occurred at Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia. Here 56 delegates from all the colonies from Georgia met to discuss the Intolerable Act, four of the delegates included George Washington, Patrick Henry, John Adams. and John Jay. The result of the meeting was they defended the colonies right to turn their own government, no military action unless attacked, and agreed to meet again.
www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-continental-congress-convenes -
Quebec Act
The Quebec Act was passed by Parliament on June 22nd. The act extended the boundaries of Quebec. The new boundaries included land west of the Mississippi river, north to Hudson's Bay, and the islands at the mouth of the St. Lawrence. This also gave religious freedom to Catholics and even allowed them to even hold public offices.
https://www.landofthebrave.info/quebec-act.htm -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The Battle of Lexington and Concord occurred in April. The war started because British General George hears the colonists have a stockpile of guns and ammunition hidden in Concord. He orders the Redcoats to go seize the stockpile and imprison the leaders of the rebellion, but Paul Revere and Sons of Liberty get word of this and set out to warn the colonists. When the British arrive were 70 minutemen, 8 of the minutemen were killed. This is considered the first battle of The Revolutionary War. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress met in May 1775 at the State house in Philadelphia. All of the 13 colonies sent delegates, but Georgia's delegates arrived later. Among these men were the founding fathers John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and George Washington. The delegates met to create a Continental Army, wrote the "Declaration of the causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms, and wrote the Olive Branch Petition.
www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/the-continental-congress -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17th in Charlestown, Massachusetts. This battle was important for the Americans Independence. In the Battle of Bunker Hill the Continental Army was at the very top, The Redcoats stormed the hill two times but were forced to retreat. Finally on the third time they succeeded because the Patriots ran out of ammunition. The British won the battle but suffered a traumatic number of losses. This gave the colonists courage that they could win the war. -
Common Sense
Common Sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. This pamphlet is considered one of the most influential pamphlets in history, this helped undecided colonists to become Patriots. Paine's argument includes general theoretical reflections about government and religion. Paine basically tells the colonists to fight for their freedom not to jump on the Britishes side just because they're winning. He tells them that with all this hard work will come an even sweeter victory. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence formally announced the break away from England. The document was written by Thomas Jefferson, presented on July 2nd and signed on July 4th 1776. Some main ideas included in this document would be Inalienable rights, unfair laws and taxes, and England violated the social contract. The colonists were happy to finally be their own nation and gave a sense of pride.
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