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French and Indian War
The French and Indian war started January 1st 1754 and ended in 1763. The French and British were fighting over land in North America. In the beginning, the French appeared to be winning. The British were getting wiped out by the French. The British ultimately won the war, but it came at a cost. The British were drowning in debt after the hard fought war and had no money to pay it off. They looked to the colonists for help. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was an agreement to formally end the French and Indian war. The treaty declared that Britain had dominance in North America. The war had a couple major affects on France. They lost nearly everything they had in the New World and all their pride was taken away from them. -
Pontiac's War
Pontiac’s War was a war fought to keep Indian lands. After the French and Indian War, The British began moving west of the Appalachian Mountains onto Indian reserves. It was an attempt to keep their lands from being stolen from them. Pontiac’s War was named after the chief who rallied up the Indians, Chief Pontiac. During the war 8 British forts were destroyed. -
Proclamtion of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was a law stating the colonists may not settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. It was an imaginary line dividing the British land from the Indian lands in the New World. Britain made this law to prevent further wars with the Native Americans over land. Many colonists ignored the Proclamation becasue they believed they had a right to settle there after they fought a war to recieve it. -
The Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was an attempt to scrape up extra money to pay off the debt from the war. The Sugar Act taxed sgar imports from Britain so instead of paying the regular price for some sugar, they added a few cents that went to the British government. Parliament passed this law to get extra money to pay the debt. Many colonists began smuggling goods so they didn't have to pay the tax. -
The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was a law that taxed all things written on paper such as marriage licenses and wills. The British Parliament passed this law as an attempt to pay off the war debt. This new law angered the colonists. The Stamp Act angered more colonists than the Sugar Act because it affected more of them. The colonists decided to fight back by boycotting, signing petitions, etc. -
The Quartering Act
The Quartering Act was a law stating that colonial assemblies must provide basic needs of soldiers while they stayed there to protect the colonists from remaining French men and Indians. Parliament passed this law to provide protection for the colonists. The Americans were very unhappy with the law. They petitioned and wrote letters to Parliament saying it was unfair to give them the burden of providing for the militia. The colonists had to provide basic needs such as bedding, cooking utensils, -
The Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act Congress was held as a way to make the Parliament repeal the Stamp Act. Some of the key leaders were James Otis and John Adams. Nine of the thirteen colonies were represented in the Stamp Act Congress. The Declaration of Rights and Grievances was a way to make sure that Parliament could no longer violate the colonist’s rights. It stated that there should be no taxes on colonists without their consent or receive a tax from a group which they had no representative in -
The Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were named after a man named Charles Townshend, he was the financial leader in Britain in the period following the repeal of the Stamp Act. Tax relief was needed in Britain so law was to do just that, they wanted to reduce the war debt in Britain by taxing the colonies. Paint, paper, glass, lead and tea were all products that were taxed by these laws. The colonists reacted with violence, which was rare, but they were tired of a group taxing them that they had no representation -
The Boston Massacre
When the first British troops arrived in Boston in October 1768, there was always tension between them and the colonists. The Boston Massacre was when colonists began gathering around British soldiers threatening them, frightened the soldiers shot into the mob and killed 5 people. I believe it is unfair to call it the Boston Massacre because the colonists who got shot somewhat asked for it. They knew what they were doing was wrong. John Adams was the man who defended the soldiers even though he -
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was anti-british because he believed everyone had a right to fair trial. -
The Tea Act
The purpose of the Tea Act was to help the East India Company get rid of their tea. The tea was to be shipped to the colonies, but because the Townshend Acts were still in place, the colonists weren’t permitted to take it. This helped to stop smuggling tea and it helped the British out because the colonists had to buy tea from them. This was an example of a monopoly, a situation in which one company controls an industry or is the only provider of a product or service. -
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was when a group that called themselves the Sons of Liberty disguised themselves as Indians, raided three British ships and dumped 342 crates of tea into the Boston Harbor. The Sons of Liberty did this because they, along with many other colonists, were frustrated with the new tax on tea. The British closed down the Boston ports as a punishment for the actions. -
The Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were passed as a way to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party. Another name for them was the Coercive Acts. There were five laws that made up the Intolerable, or Coercive, Acts. There was the Impartial Administration of Justice Act, Massachusetts Bay Regulating Act, Boston Port Act, Quartering Act, and the Quebec Act. The Impartial Administration of Justice Act stated that a judge could move a trial to another colony or England if he feared the juries wouldn’t judge -
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fairly. The Massachusetts Bay Regulating Act banned all town meetings unless the royal governor said otherwise. The Boston Port Act closed the Boston port until the dumped tea was paid for. The Quartering Act allowed British troops to stay in a colonists’ house if barracks weren’t available. The Quebec Act granted Catholics that lived in Quebec religious freedom. -
The First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was held to discuss the Intolerable Acts and what to do to repeal them. 12 out of the 13 colonies were represented. Two things they decided to do was boycott British goods and agreed to meet again if Britain didn’t change the laws. 56 delegates were there and some of them were the famous George Washington, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, John Jay and John Dickinson. -
Lexington and Concord
The British military planned to head to Concord to seize gun powder after they planned to capture colonial leaders Sam Adams and John Hancock in Lexington. As word spread that the British were coming, colonial militias lined up and prepared to fight. When 270 British soldiers came ready to fight, they found 70 militia soldiers waiting for them. They eyed each other down, not knowing what to expect. Suddenly,a bullet flew through the air. -
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Some of the militias were called minutemen because they were ready to fight in a minute’s notice. After the militias in Lexington were unable to hold back British forces, the British marched forward to Concord where they were being defeated. As the British tried to flee, more militias came in and held them back. Not only were they defeated at Concord, but they were harassed and shot for 12 miles the whole way back to Boston by the militia. The British suffered about 40% from casualties. -
The Second Continental Congress
On June 14, 1775 the Congress officially appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief of the American army. The Olive Branch Petition was an attempt by Congress to avoid a full blown out war with the British. The Declaration of Causes was to explain why the 13 colonies had decided to fight the Britsh for independence. This Congress would later become new born America’s government. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The colonists intended on buliding their defenses atop of Bunker Hill, but instead they ended up at Breed's Hill closer to Boston. The colonials were led by William Prescott. The British strategy was to only shoot when you could see the whites of the enemy's eyes because they were low on ammunition. The British used this strategy until the third time the enemy lined up their soldiers and engaged them in hand to hand combat. The enemy eventually won the battle, but the patriot's gunfire had cut -
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down about 1,000 enemy troops with 200 killed and more than 800 wounded. This was a very costly victory. After the Battle of Bunker Hill, the enemies realized war with the colonies was going to be long, tough, and costly.
