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Treaty Of Paris 1763
-Britain claims Canada and almost all of North America East of the Mississippi River.
-Ended the French and Indian War.
-British no longer felt threatened by the French. -
Pontiac's Rebellion 1763
-Indian tribes were dissatisfied with the British postwar policies after the French and Indian War.
-Ottawa Indian Chief started a rebellion to get Colonial settlers out of the Ohio Valley region.
-In May 1763 his Indians took 8 forts and lay siege on 2 more.
-The British gave Indians blankets that were infected with smallpox virus. -
Proclamation 1763
-No settlement West of the Appalachian Mountains. It was issued by King George the 3.
-Only licensed traders would be allowed to travel west or deal with Indians.
-Many objected and petitioned Parliament which resulted in the boundary line being moved back.
-A desire for good farmland caused many colonists to defy the proclamation; others merely resented the royal restrictions on trade and migration. -
Sugar Act 1764
-It was a revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain.
-Merchants and shippers, assumed that the highly visible new tax program was the major culprit, it was the economic impact rather than the constitutional issue of taxation without representation that was the main focus for the colonists. -
Stamp Act 1765
-It imposed a tax on all paper documents in the colonies.
-The law applied to wills, deeds, newspapers, pamphlets and even playing cards and dice.
-Resisted by debating in colonial legislatures, written documents,& mob/crowd actions such as torring & feathering tax collections.
-Arguing that only their own representative assemblies could tax them, the colonists insisted that the act was unconstitutional, and they resorted to mob violence to intimidate stamp collectors into resigning. -
Quartering Act 1765
-This act required the colonies to house British soldiers in barracks provided by the colonies.
-The colonists disputed the legality of this Act because it seemed to violate the Bill of Rights of 1689, which forbid taxation without representation and the raising or keeping a standing army without the consent of Parliament.
-The colonists wondered why the British troops remained in North America after the French had been defeated. -
Sons of Liberty 1765
-Founded by Sam Adams.
-Organization developed to oppose and harass the British.
-Set up committees of correspondence to keep the 13 colonies informed about what the British were doing in America.
-Colonial response: "No taxation without representation." -
Repeal of Stamp Act 1766
-After months of protest, and an appeal by Benjamin Franklin before the British House of Commons, Parliament voted to repeal the Stamp Act in March 1766.
- However, the same day, Parliament passed the Declaratory Acts, asserting that the British government had free and total legislative power over the colonies.
-Americans celebrated across the colonies. -
Townshend Act/Duties 1767
-The Townshend Acts imposed duties on glass, lead, paints, paper and tea imported into the colonies.
-In 1770, Parliament repealed all Townshend duties except on tea.
-Many Americans viewed the taxation as an abuse of power. -
Boston Massacre 1770
-A squad of British soldiers, come to support a sentry who was being pressed by a heckling, snowballing crowd of Patriots, let loose some shots.
-Three persons were killed immediately and two died later of their wounds; among the victims was Crispus Attucks.
-After the Boston Massacre, colonists were largely outraged at what they saw as a vicious attack on unarmed civilians. -
Tea Act 1773
-The principal objective was to reduce the massive amount of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses and to help the struggling company survive.
-Sons of Liberty members on the night of December 16, 1773 disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians, boarded three ships moored in Boston Harbor, and destroyed over 92,000 pounds of tea.
-The policy ignited an opposition and resentment among American colonists. -
Intolerable Acts 1774
-Series of punitive laws passed by British parliament after Boston Tea Party.
-Were meant to punish the Mass colonists for throwing tea in harbor.
-Colonists saw laws of Intolerable Acts as a violation of their constitutional rights. -
Lexington and Concord 1775
-Kicked off the American Revolutionary War (1775-83).
-A confrontation on the Lexington town green started off the fighting, and soon the British were hastily retreating under intense fire.
-Many more battles followed, and in 1783 the colonists formally won their independence.
-The colonists became upset when they heard that British soldiers burned houses and fired upon innocent people. -
Battle of Bunker Hill 1775
-The British defeated the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill in Massachusetts.
-The battle was a significant morale-builder for the inexperienced Americans, convincing them that patriotic dedication could overcome superior British military might.
-Colonists reacted by gathering weapons, forming new militias and replacing royal governments with colonial ones. -
Second Continental Congress 1775
-Convention of delegates from 13 colonies that started meeting in summer 1775.
-Managed colonial war effort and moved incrementally towards independence.
-Governing body by which American colonial government coordinated their resistance to Britain rule during the first 2 years of American Revolution.
-Olive Branch Petition- a direct appeal to the King.
-Americans felt less & less like their English brethren.
