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The French & Indian War
After the British and French began to have conflict over land ownership, a 7-year long war broke out in 1756 to rectify this. This lead to and ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which left Britain with the majority of the land in the US and Canada
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The Stamp Act of 1765
The Stamp Act of 1765(tax on all paper documents)was a tax act placed on March 22, 1765, directly on the colonist from the British ; this was due to the debt the British were now in because of the 7 year war that had just ended. The colonist felt that this was unconstitutional and so they resorted to violence and speeches and got the act repealed in 1766. -
The Sons of Liberty
The Sons of Liberty were a group of colonist formed in august 1765; they were formed to intimidate the British and instigate disobedience. They were the cause of many boycotts, some violence, and the Boston Tea party, which was a main reason that the British and the Colonies went to war.
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The Townshend Act of 1767
The Townshend Act was when the British began to tax imported goods to the American Colonies in 1767, this was because the British government thought the colonist should have to help pay off some of the debt from the French and Indian War since they did protect them. The colonist felt this was unfair because they has no representation in the parliament, they responded with forms of protest and boycotts. -
The Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a riot that occurred on March 5, 1770 and resulted in many peoples deaths. It started as a street fight between 1 British soldier and some colonist and quickly escalated to a deadly situation that would later result in anti-British sentiment and encourage the American revaluation. -
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party occurred on December 16, 1773, when the colonist disguised themselves as Native Americans and dumped 342 chests of tea into the Harbor in retaliation of the tea tax not being lifted. This caused the British Parliament to pass the Coercive Acts in hopes to stop the colonist rebellion. -
The Coercive Acts
The Coercive Acts were 4 acts that the British placed on the colonist on March 28, 1774 in response to the Boston Tea Party. These acts temporarily closed the harbor, turned Massachusetts council into one person, made British officers immune to prosecution, and they made colonist house British soldiers if necessary ; this lead to the First Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia. -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were fought on April 19,1775 between the British and the Colonist. This started because of the many years of tension between them, and the British storming the colonies ; this resulted in the Revolutionary War which gained the colonist independence.
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Thomas Paine's Common Sense Published
On January 10, 1776 Thomas Paine published a pamphlet called 'Common Sense' which essentially was made to say that the colonist needed to stand up to England and that a representative government was better than a monarchy. This sold over 150,000 copies in one year and and influenced the colonist to stand up, hence, the American Revolution. -
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The Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown was a battle that started on September 28, 178, it resulted in many deaths but also gave George Washington the reputation as a leader that he needed to then become our first president. The battle was about a month long and heavily aided by Alexander Hamilton, was the last major battle of the American Revolution, and concluded in a win for the colonist. -
The Treaty of Paris Signed
On September 3, 1783 the Treaty of Paris was signed by representatives of The United States, Great Britain, Spain, and France. This was signed so everyone had to recognize the colonies as they're own country, as they did. -
The 5/3 Compromise
The 5/3 Compromise was an agreement established in 1787 stating "the fifths of all other Persons" which means that for every 5 slaves in a state, they would count as 3 people. This is important because in elections, this would make each slave count for less than one person and it was one of the only ways to get the southern states to ratify the constitution ; the compromise was later removed as a amendment. -
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The Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention was a 3 month long debate, beginning on May 25, 1787 and ending on September 17, 1787 ; it consisted of a representative from every state(with the exception of Rhode Island)debating on a new form of government. This resulted in the federal system with checks and balances, along with the Connecticut Compromise. -
The Constitution is Ratified
On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire ratified the constitution and was the last necessary state to make it law. But prior to that, it was discussed and found necessary that amendments were added to protect basic rights. After ratified, it was said that the constitution would go into place on March 4th of the next year. This was now the law of the new country
