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French and Indian War
In 1754, the French and British fought over control in Ohio River Valley.They had fought for colonial control since the 1600s. Both wanted to trade and to expand their settlements. First, it went bad for the British. Until Bristish and Americans worked together victory for the British was insured. The British did everything possible to prevent the French from winning. The war left Britain in financial problems. This made British have to place more taxes in colonies, which led to further problems -
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The French and Indian War
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The Sugar Act and Stamp Act
The Sugar Act was passed in 1764. It placed taxes on molasses, and it didn't allow anymore smuggling. The British did this because they were in debt and had lots of financial problems, so the taxes could pay for that. Many colonists did not like it because smuggling was a way many colonists earned money. It was repealed in 1766 because of many protests made against it. -
The Sugar Act and Stamp Act (continued)
The Stamp Act was passed in 1764. It placed taxes on all paper products and official documents. It was also placed because the British needed to pay off their debt. This act made many colonists protest. Thanks to protest the act was repealed March 18 1766. After this, many colonists began to examine their relationship with British. Also, Parliament passes Declaratory Act that says they have control over colonies and could give them whatever taxes they wanted to give. -
The Bsoton Massacre
The Boston Massacre was in March 5, 1770. A group of colonists harassed 8 British soldiers. The colonists were angry because of all the taxes placed, so they went against soldiers. Colonists insulted soldiers and threw items at them. The soldiers shot into the crowd killing five men. The British were very stunned at what had happened and so were many of the colonists. Some colonists made it seem that the British were all bad. They also said that the British had planned it. Only 2 were punished. -
The Tea Act
The British passed the Tea Act in 1773. Act made to help the British East India Company to get out of dept. It lowered the price of tea in the colonies. It became a monopoly which meant that company had a lot more control in colony importation. So, many merchants would not earn as much as they normally would and many would not buy from merchants because the price would be higher. The colonists objected and threatened to stop ships from importing tea. It led to many problems with the colonists. -
The Boston Tea Party
On December 16, 1773, a shipment of tea was waiting in the Boston harbor to get unloaded. The colonists tried to stop them from unloading, and to stop people from people buying it. They boycott it so the British would repeal the act. A group of Boston residents (Sons of Liberty) met to debate issue. The Sons of Liberty decided to raid the ship dressed as Indians. They dumped 342 chests of tea into harbor. The tea they dumped was worth thousands of dollars. The king got mad and punished colonies. -
The Intolerable Acts
Intolerable Acts passed in 1774. Closed Boston port, stated that royal governor had more control over colonists, and that anyone said to attack British soldier would have trial in Britain. Also strengthened Quartering Act. British placed act because of way colonies had acted and wanted to punish Boston. Committees of Correspondence spread word about what happened to Boston. Tried to get food and supplies to Boston, an many do. The colonies very mad at what the British have done and rebel. -
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The Revolutionary War
Began with the Battle of Lexington and Concord and ended with the Treaty of Paris -
The Battle at Lexington and Concord
Britain organizes to stop resistance from colonists. General Gage moves towards Boston. Minutemen gather in Lexington to fight with British. Someone fired shot and no one knows from which side, then the fighting began and eight colonists died. Called "Shot Heard Round the World". British kept on trying to get to Concord, but stopped by the colonists. British forced back, and 300 of them were either wounded or killed.Colonists glad Minutemen had been able to stop British.Started 8 year-long war. -
Common Sense
This was a famous pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. It was published in January 1776. Paine's language appealed to many people. Thomas Paine wanted to encourage all people to fight and wanted them to keep on believing they could win. In the end, this pamphlet encouraged many people to join the revolution and fight against the British. This was a major turnaround in the war when many people wanted to give up. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
10,000 soldiers gathered around Boston. They were trying to gain a strong place against British in Boston. The British and Americans were fighting over the occupation of the hills around the city of Boston. At the end, the British won. The Americans only lost because they ran out of ammunition. But 1,000 British soldiers were killed or wounded. Washington thought that they needed a bigger army after they lost. Still, they slowed the British down. After that the actual revolution started. -
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration is a document which states their declaring of independence from Great Britain. The Americans decided to make this so the British would know that they were now working together and are ready to form a new nation. The British really didn’t believe them they thought that the Americans were not going to take truth in this and that they would need a ruler. After that, the war continued. -
Battle of Saratoga
October 17, 1777: In this battle the Americans won and kept control over Hudson River valley. The battle began because a British soldier realized that there was where they could win the revolution. The British and Americans had been fighting and then the British surrendered. This battle was a major turnaround in the war. After the Americans won, the French and Spanish realized that the Americans did have a chance in winning the war. After this the Americans got much help from French and Spanish. -
Valley Forge
Winter of 1777-1778: Washington's army went through a cruel winter in 1777-1778. They suffered this because they were running out of supplies and had no way to warm up. After knowing this many colonists felt very bad and started to send more supplies to the army. In the spring, they were ready to fight again. -
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Valley Forge
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Help from the French and Spanish
After the winning the Battle of Saratoga, the United States got a lot of help from the Europeans. In February 1778 the French were the first nation to form an alliance with the United Sates. The Spanish also helped the Americans by sending them some supplies, and helping them by letting their ships stay on their ports. This helped the Americans a lot and all of them were very happy because with their help they had a better chance of winning the war. At the end, it did help them with the war. -
The Battle of Yorktown
This was the last battle of the Revolutionary War. Cornwallis made a mistake by getting cornered in the Yorktown peninsula. Here the Americans and French starved them. They starved the British by blocking their every path to get supplies. Also many attacked British ships that were going to bring the supplies. On October 19, 1781 the British surrendered. It was the end of the last major battle of the war. -
The 1783 Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris of 1783 was the official end to the American Revolution. It said that the British recognized that the colonies were now free and independent states. The British had given up and said that the Americans had won. The British were not totally convinced that they were independent, but they said that they were. The Americans all rejoiced and were glad that the war was over. They then went on trying to figure out a good government and continued forming their nation.
