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Treaty of Paris
After the French and Indian war was fought between the French and Indians against the Colonists and British, a treaty was signed in Paris giving all land west of the Mississippi and Cananda to the British. Spain still controlled New Orleans and Florida, however Florida was traded to England for Cuba. -
The Proclamation Line
After the French and Indian War, the king of Enlgand forbade the colonists from settling in any land west of the Appalachian Mountains because the colonists were being killed by the Indians if they settled west of the Appalachians. Although this was meant to protect the colonists, this angered them because they were not being allowed to use the land they just fought for. -
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The Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was the first of many acts to be passed by the British on the colonists to help pay for the war expenses of the French and Indian War. The Sugar act was a tax enacted by the British in 1764 on molasses, sugar and sugar products like coffee, indigo, and certain types of wine. This act resulted in protests and botcotts and was eventually repealed and replaced with the Revanue Act in 1766. This act was the first of many to increase tensions between the colonists and the British. -
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The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was a tax on all things printed on paper: newspapers, legal documents, licences, playing cards, ect. This tax effected well educated people like lawyers who knew that it was unfair for the people to be taxed without representation. This tax could not be payed with paper money and had to be payed in gold or silver which was not as easy to come by. Again protests and boycotts occured, increasing tensions. -
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The Quartering Act
The Quartering Act was a proclamation that declared that any British soldier had the right to enter a colonsist home, and the colonists were required to provide a bed, food, and clothing for the soldier. This act was passed because there weren't enough houses and baracks for the British soldiers. Many colonists did not have the money for this and tensions were already high from the other acts so many protests and riots took place -
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The Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were a series of taxes put on many minor goods after the Stamp and Sugar acts were repealed. Many items such as wine, fruits, white and green glass (chinaware), red and white lead, painter’s colors, paper and pasteboard, ect. were taxed. These taxes were active until the Boston Massacre. -
The Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was the killing of colonists in Boston in 1770. The colonists had been throwing rocks and snowballs at the British troops as an act of rebellion against the increasingly growing British presence in the colonies since the Townshend Acts. This event increased tensions even more between the colonists and the British. -
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest of The Sons of Liberty againts the British Tea act, dumping 340 chests of British East India Company Tea into Boston Harbor. This act of rebellion resulted in the Intolerable Acts placed on Boston -
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The Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable acts were the last of the acts to be placed on the colonists. These acts were placed specifically to punish Massachusetts. The Boston Port Act, the Boston Harbor was shut down, the Massachusetts Government Act, there was a stronger British presence in Massachusetts, and the Administration of Justice Act, to help suppress riots and revolts and administer punishments if the law was broken. These acts resulted in the start of the American Revolution in 1775. -
The First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from each of the 13 colonies in response to the Intolerable Acts passed by British Parliment. The Declaration stated all the colonial objections to the Intolerable Acts, listed a colonial bill of rights, and contsined list of grievances. -
The Battle of Lexington and Concord
This was the first official Battle of the American Revolution. The tensions between the British and the colonists ahd been growing for many years. Colonist's reserves of weapons and ammunition were held in Lexington and Concord so the entire revolution would have been shut down if the Colonists lost this battle. This battle resulted in a colonist victory. -
The Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress met in 1775 and established a continental army with George Washington as the head general. They also authorized printed money. and wrote the very important document The Olive Branch Petetion. -
The Battle of Bunker Hill
This war was fought after the Battle of Lexington and Concord, on Bunker Hill. The colonists, having the highgrown were able to take out 1,100 British Troops with only 300-400 colonist casualties. This battle was considered a loss for the colonists because they lost the hill, even though they inflicted major damage. -
The Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was a document that was written by John Dickinson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress as an attempt to assert the rights of the colonists while maintaining their loyalty to the British crown. This was sent to the King of England but was refused to be read. -
Common Sense/Crisis
Common Sense and Crisis were two political documents written by Thomas Paine at the time of the American Revolution. These documents were written in a language that the average, uneducated person could read and their purpose was to boost moral for the war. -
The Declaration of Independance
This document was drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776 and officially declared the colonists independance from Britain. -
The Battles of Princeton and Trenton
Although battles were not normally fought in the winter time, George Washington made the decision to invade Trenton Christmas night, capturing 1,400 mercenaries. This same battle strategy was used in Princeton as well. These battles greatly boosted American moral -
The Battle of Saratoga
This was a battle fought in Saratoga and was the biggest victory for the colonists yet. Burgoyne’s troops surrender to Gates at Battle, marking the turning point of the war. This battle assured Britain could not cut off New England from the rest of the colonies and resulted in France joining the colonists side. -
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The Battles of Camden, Kings Mountain, Cowpens
The Battle of Camden was fought in the south where many people still remained loyal to the British. The British defeated the colonists during this battle
The Battle of Kings Mountain was an important American victory during the Revolutionary War. The battle was the first major patriot victory to occur after the British invasion of Charleston
The Battle of Cowpens was another colonist victory in the south. The British goal to try and divide the southern colonies failed -
The Battle of Yorktown
While British General Cornwallis sets up camp on a peninsula at Yorktown waiting to resupply, Marquis de Lafayette positions his troops to prevent an escape route. As this happened, reinforcements from New York came and hit the British with heavy artillery. Cornwall surrendered and the war was practically over. -
Treaty of Paris
This was the official end of the war, Britain recognized the independence if the US, a northern boarder is drawn with the Mississippi is determined to be the western boarder and Florida is returned to Spain. All British troops were then extracted from the colonies.
