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French and Indian War 1754-1763
This was a war wide world between Britan and France.
The Britan wanted to have control over the land and establish colonies but the French just wanted fur to trade. French won the first two years but in 1760 British ended up winning -
Period: to
Road to Independence
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Treaty of Paris
Britan claimes all land that was east of the Mississippi river which ended up being very costly for them. The colonists then started to settle near the Ohio river valley. -
Proclamation of 1763
The british wanted to forbid colonists to settle west of the Appalachian mountains. The British did this because they wanted to avoid any conflict with the Native Americans that could happen if they allowed the colonists to move. The colonists were angry that they were being restricted and couldn't move where they wanted. -
Sugar Act
The british placed taxes on sugar and molasses because they wanted/needed more money to help provide more security for the colonists. This did affect many colonists but the new idea of taxes became a growing issue. -
Stamp Act
The stamp act required all legal documents to have a stamp on them, showing that a tax had been paid.
The british thought they could get away with taxing the colonies to gain more money and power.
The colonists formed a boycott against the act and the stamp act eventually repealed. -
Writs of Assisstance
This was a immediatley useful tool in the fight against smuggling. Many buildings and ships were ransacked and seized by the british troops. The colonists were angry about this because they didn't want strangers searching through their houses and invading their privacy. -
Townshend Act
This act placed taxes on household items being sold. The colonists did not like this act and began to boycott the Townshend Act. The act eventually repealed. -
Quartering Act
This act made it possible for custom officers to go in and search any ship they wanted.
This was a british motivation for enforcing the act. Some officials were legitimatley concerned.
This act affected few colonists, but merchants felt that it was an invasion of privacy. -
Boston Massacre
The boston massacre was a riot/mob of colonists that confronted british soldiers about what they were doing. During this mob 5 people died in total. -
Tea Act/ Boston Tea Party
Tea merchents were cut out of tea trade by the British because of the lower prices being made. This resulted in the Boston Tea Party which was December 16 1773 where colonists dumped 90,000 pounds of tea into the boston harbor. -
1st continental congress
With about 55 delegates who attended this meeting held in Philadelphia, the colonists were not happy with the rules that the british were placing on them because they felt that thye were being controlled. -
Intolerable Acts
The british closed the port of Boston because they wanted to stop colonists from holding town meetings. The colonies/colonists began to unify. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
These were considered the first battles of the Revolutionary War. 700 british troops marched to lexington to find only 70 militiamen waiting. Nobody really knows who fired first but the British won. British also marched to concord and destroied all of the supplies.
"Shot heard around the world" was a quote that became famous after these battles. -
Bunker Hill 1775
This battle took place in June of 1775. The Americans were low on gunpowder so they were told not to fire until they could see the whites of the british troops' eyes. The british ended up winning but it was still very costly for them because they lost over 1,000 of their men -
2nd continental congress
The second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia so that they could discuss the rebellion. Richard Henry Lee came up with a solution to make the colonies 'free and independent' which led to a comitee being created to write the decleration of independence. Some of the members included; Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Roger Sherman -
Common Sense published
Written by Thomas Paine in 1776. This was a written persuation that helped motivate colonists to help fight for American independence. "Our corn will fetch its price in any market in Europe" -Common Sense. January, 10, 1776 -
Decleration of Independence
Written by Thomas Jefferson. This was the written document that was passed on July, 4, 1776 that declared independence for America. This document was based on the Philosophy of John Locke who felt tht all people should have rights, protected by the givernment. -
Battle of New York
This battle ocurred in 1776. The British wanted to take over New York City, so they attacked Washington's Continental army and caused many casualites, but fortunatley Washington avoided capture. So basically the Americans lost this battle and the British occupied New York for the rest of the war... -
Battle of Trenton
This battle was known for George Washington's famous crossing the Deleware River, where he and 2,400 men under his command took the British by surprise. This battle resulted in the Americans winning and most of the British surrendered. -
Battle of Priceton
George Washington captures many British troops in Princeton, New Jersey. This forced the British to retreat out of New Jersey which lead them to have to spend their winter in Brunswick, Philadelphia. -
Battle of Saratoga
This battle was known as the turning point in the Revoultionary War. The important factor of this battle was when the French sided with the Americans to try to win their independence form the Britsh. This battle also resulted in the British General Burgoyne surrender of his whole army to the Americans. Benjamin Franklin nagotiated the Treaty of Alliance with France and Spain. -
The winter at Valley Forge 1777-1778
George Washingotn and his army had to spend their winter in Valley Forge. Unfortunatley this was a very harsh winter and the troops were in desperate need of food and warm clothing. -
Battle of Yorktown
This was the last battle of the Revolutionary War. British General Cornwallis moved all of his troops to Virginia. Little did he know that James Armisted (a secret spy) had been giving all of this information to George Washington... A fleet of french ships came into the bay where Cornwallis and his army were stationed while Washington led a three week attack. Cornwallis eventually had to surrender on October 17 1781. The Americans had finally won the war... and their Independence!!! -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris declared that the United States had won the war and their freedom from Britan. Britan now recognized the United States as independent. The Americans gained all of the land east of the Mississippi river back from the British and they also agreed to return all of the land taken away from the loyalists back!
