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Period: to
French and Indian War
a. The cause of the French and Indian war was disputes over land.
b. The French had a lot of victories early on in the war, but Great Britain came back with William Pitt to lead their army. They were able to capture key cities, like Quebec and Montreal, which signaled defeat for the French.
c. The British won the war. After the war the French had to give up all of their land and England began Taxing the colonists to help pay for their war debt. -
Proclamation of 1763
a. The Proclamation reserved lands west of the Appalachian Mountains for the Indians.
b. This meant colonist were not able to settle here or gain resources from the west. Also, they were taxed by England to help Great Britain pay off their war debt. -
Sugar Act
a. Parliament of England is responsible for the Act.
b. The Sugar Act is when England taxed sugar and molasses on colonist to help pay for their war debt.
c. It put control on colonist trade by England.
d. The colonists were very upset over this act. -
Quartering Act
A. This required colonists to provide food, drink, and shelter for British soldiers. -
Stamp Act
A. Parliament was responsible for the Stamp Act.
B. This required official government stamps on documents or papers.
C. The Sons of Liberty highly protested the Stamp Act, which put delays on it starting. This was eventually repealed. -
Period: to
Stamp Act Congress
A. This consisted of nine British representatives.
B. The delegates met in New York City.
C. This meeting was to discuss the Stamp Act.
D. They decided Parliament could not tax the colonists because colonies didn't have representatives in Parliament.
https://www.landofthebrave.info/stamp-act-congress.htm -
Declaratory Act
A. Here Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, and declared that they had the right to rule and tax the colonies. -
Townshend Acts
A. Parliament would be responsible for this Act.
B. This act taxed goods from England, such as lead, paper, paint, glass, and tea. Also, this included writs of assistance, which meant custom officers could search for smuggled goods in any house.
C.They would use this tax money to pay off their war debt from the French and Indian war.
D. In response came the Boston Massacre. -
Boston Massacre
A. This started out with some youngsters throwing snowballs, but got out of hand.
B. It was misunderstood if the British commander said fire or not, but one of the soldiers shot.
C. Multiple shots were fired and five colonist were killed. -
Boston Tea Party
A. The colonists were responsible for this.
B. After the Tea Act, the colonists did this to get back at the British.
C. Colonists dressed as natives and dumped tea into the Boston Harbor.
D. They dumped 92,000 lbs. of tea into the harbor.
E. The British were not happy about this and responded with the Intolerable Acts. -
Battle of Concord & Lexington
A. Revere's Ride was taking place, until the British General found out about what he was going after, and ordered his men to seize the 'prize'.
i. The British were after weapons rumored to be waiting in Concord. They also were after Revere to keep him from getting there first.
ii. The minutemen were waiting on the redcoats.
iii. Someone shot their gun, starting battle, which killed a lot of colonists and some of the British.
B. This was considered the first battle of the American Revolution. -
Intolerable Acts
A. The colonists were mainly affected by the Intolerable Acts.
B. The Intolerable Acts shut down the Boston Harbor. This caused difficulty with trading.
C. In response, the colonists set up the First Continental Congress, to discuss about the Britishes unfairness. -
Period: to
First Continental Congress
A. At the meeting there were 12 delegates from the 13 colonies. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Benjamin Franklin were the founding fathers present.
B. The meeting was held in Philadelphia.
C. They did this in response to the Intolerable Acts.
D. They decided that they supported the colonists right to run their own government, agreed no military action would be taken unless attacked, and that they would meet again. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Continental_Congress -
Battle of Bunker Hill
A. The battle occurred at Charlestown, Boston.
B. The redcoats stormed Bunker Hill three times, but were forced to retreat.
C. The Battle of Bunker Hill was won by the British.
D. This gave the colonists confidence that they could win the war.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Bunker-Hill -
Second Continental Congress
A. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams were the founding fathers there. Also, most of the same delegates from the first were there, and the patriots.
B. They met in Philadelphia.
C. They created a Continental Army and appointed George Washington as the leader.
D. They sent the Olive Branch Petition to King George III and wrote the "Declaration of the causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms". -
Common Sense
A. Thomas Paine is the author of Common Sense.
B. Thomas Paine supported independence from Britain.
C. This helped persuade undecided colonists to support independence. -
Declaration of Independence
A. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration.
B. It was signed July 4, 1776.
C. This document formally announced the break with England and outlined their reasons for wanting independence.
D. It included "inalienable rights", unfair laws and taxes from the British, and how England had violated the social contract.
E. This was a big step for colonist and made them happy to be announcing their independence.
