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Treaty of Paris
This treaty ended the French and Indian War in America, and also the Seven Years' War in Europe. Great Britain, France, and Spain (France's ally) all signed the treaty in Paris France. This treaty forced France to give up the land east of the Mississippi River to Britain, except for New Orleans and its surrounding areas. These were given to Spain, along with the land west of the Mississippi River. Britain then returned Cuba to Spain in exchange for Florida. -
Proclamation Line
After British won the war, the Native Americans would go to them with their concerns. However, General Jeffrey Amherst absolutely despised them, so he ignored them and he also cut off all flow of trade goods. Enraged, the indians rebelled by destroying every British fort and killing and capturing about 2,000 colonists. Quickly, the British government scrambled to restore peace, and soon issued the Proclamation of 1763. This forbid any colonists to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. -
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Stamp/Suagr/Quartering/Townshend/Intolerable Acts
It all started out when Britain realized that they were in great debt due to the war. They needed a way to collect taxes, so they issued the Sugar and Quartering Acts (pay taxes on molasses, and provide housing for troops). Stamp Acts were issued which caused for tax on all paper, but the colonists boycotted that, which led Britain to issue the townshend acts. Finally, the intolerable acts were passed in 1774 after all of the accidents. This punished all of Massachusetts. -
Boston Massacre
Britain had sent some of their troops into Boston. Occassionally, fights would break out between the soldiers and the colonists, but on the evening of March 5, it was about to get serious. It started out with a group of young men throwing some snowballs and curses at the soldiers. Other soldiers came to their aid and quickly and angry crowd formed. More snowballs and curses were thrown, but now cobblestones were added to the mix. In all of the ruckus, bullets were fired, killing 5 Americans. -
Boston Tea Party
In 1773, Parliament passed an Act in hopes of helping the British East India Company. This law gave the right to the company to sell the tea in America without the normal taxes. Most Americans were happy with this, but others thought it was a trick to cause them to buy more tea, which would then enforce more taxes. So, on December 16, a group of colonists disguised as Indians boarded the ships and dumped over 300 cases of tea overboard. -
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1st Continental Congress
After the Intolerable Acts were passed, a group of 56 delegates gathered together at Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia. George Washington from Virginia was one of the leading figures. They came up with ideas such as boycotting British goods, and calling upon the English to arm themselves and form a militia. They also made a direct appeal to the King by listing their grievances. -
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Lexington and Concord
The "Patriots" in Massachusetts started forming militias and gathering weapons. The weapons were then stocked in Concord, and then on the night of April 18, 800 British troops moved out into Concord, with orders of seizing the supplies. Although this was supposed to remain a secret, Britain had somehow found out, so Paul Revere was sent to warn that "the British are coming." The Britsh arrived at Lexington at dawn and ordered all of their arms in return for no harm. One firing caused for war. -
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2nd Continental Congress
A second meeting took place in Philadelphia after the British and the colonists had clashed at Lexington and Concord. At this meeting, the delegates all had different points of view on what should be done. Some thought that they wouldnt be able to rule without the aid of Britain. However others believed that they would have no trouble governing by themselves. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
On the night before, all of the colonists work on a six foot high dirt wall while the British were asleep. When they wake up, they are surprised to see the amount of work that got done. The British General quickly fires canons at it, but it seemed to have no effect. Then the troops begin to march up the hill and when they get up there, the are just shot down. Up until now it is a colonist victory, however their ammunition runs out and the British break through the fortress. -
Olive Branch Petition
Written by John Dickinson, the Olive Branch Petition was a document that stated the idea of the colonists separating themselves from Britain. Their main point was to notify the King of their rising unhappiness. They started off by saying how well they worked together, and then shifted into saying that they didn't like the way they were being ruled. Sadly, the King didn't even read the document, yet resorted straight to violence. -
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Common Sense/Crisis
Common Sense was first published by Thomas Paine, enforcing the idea of the colonists breaking away from Britain. His audience consisted of the Americans and pointed out things such as how successful they would have been if they were independent. He also mentioned how Britain was only interested in what the colonies could do for it. Later, Crisis was written in a much simpler way to relate to all people. The message of Crisis was to motivate the colonists to fight against the British. -
Declaration of Independence
After everything that the colonists had been through, they believed that they had had enough! From all of the taxing and the acts, to all of the incidents such as the Boston Massacre, the colonists knew that it was time to segment themselves from Britain. Thomas Jefferson was chosen to be the one to write the document. It consisted of three parts; the preamble, the list of grievances, and the conclusion. It was sent to King George and all names were signed at the bottom, including John Hancock. -
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Battle of Princeton/Trenton
Its the winter of 1776 and George Washington has to make a drastic move. His troops are cold, tired, and hungry, and they do not believe that they can win this war against the world's greatest navy. So, Washington decides to attack on Christmas night when they least expect it. This tactic was so successful that they ended up capturing 1,400 mercenaries, and repeating this war tactic in Trenton. -
Battle of Saratoga
This was the largest American victory, and also a major turning point. Burgoyne's troops now had to surrender to Gates at the Battle of Saratoga. This war assured that the British could not cut of the NE. Benjamin Franklin then convinces the French to join and fight with the colonists. Having the French on the colonists side helped tremendously because they provided them with supplies, money, and even troops. Britain had to now defend itself in Europe. -
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Battles of Camden/Kings Mountain/Cowpens
After the Brits took Savannah Georgia in 1778, and then Charleston South Carolina in 1780 the loyalists did much of the fighting. First, the battle of Camden was when the British were led by Cornwallis and the Americans by Horatio Gates. Even though the americans outnumbered the British, they lost. Next, the Americans won in King's Mountain because the loyalists were annihilated. Finally the Americans won again in the battle of Cowpens due to Britain losing so many of its soldiers. -
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Battle of Yorktown
George Washington led 17,000 French and Continental troops and performed a siege in Yorktown on the 9,000 British troops. As the commander of the Brits was waiting for a ship to deliver their supplies, Washington thought this would be the perfect time to attack. So, he blocked any path that Cornwallis could use to escape. Finally after 3 weeks of bombarding, Cornwallis surrendered to George. -
Treaty of Paris
Yet another Treaty of Paris was signed, and this time it decared American independence, and ended the revolutionary war. It was signed by David Hartley, who represented the British, and it was also signed by three American negotiators. These leaders were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay. To finalize the document, four wax seals were placed horizontally under the signatures.
