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French and Indian War
The French and Indian War, also known as the Seven Years’ War, lasted from 1754 to 1763. The French fought against the British, with Native American allies on both sides. The war began due to a dispute over the claim of the upper Ohio River valley. Ultimately, Great Britain won the war and gained a great deal of territory as a result. The war left Britain in debt, so they taxed the American colonists. This taxation led to unrest and the start of the American Revolution. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was the implementation of taxes upon the colonists in order to pay for the French and Indian War. The Stamp Act taxed newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, legal documents, dice, and playing cards. A stamp was placed on the item to show that the tax had been paid. The colonists nullified the Act by refusing to use the stamps, along with riots, stamp burning, and intimidating stamp distributors. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were a series of four acts that taxed British goods imported to the colonies. This included china, glass, lead, paper, paint, and tea. Once again, the colonists were outraged about the taxation and boycotted British goods. As a response, Britain sent troops to the colonies in order to control the unrest. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a street fight in which colonists threw snowballs, sticks, and rocks at a group of British soldiers, nicknamed “Redcoats”. As the mob harassed the soldiers, the Redcoats fired their muskets, killing a total of five colonists. The fault of the event is heavily disputed, but the colonists claimed the British unjustly massacred colonists. This event sparked revolutionary propaganda and mindsets. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty, a group of Bostonian political activists. As a protest to the colonists’ taxation without representation in Parliament, the Sons of Liberty dressed as Mohawk Indians, boarded three British tea ships, and dumped 342 chests of tea imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts, also known as the Coercive Acts, were passed in order to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party. The acts were the Boston Port Act (closed the Boston Harbor), Massachusetts Government Act (replaced local elected government with an appointive one), Administration of Justice Act (allowed British officials charged with offenses to go to England or another colony for a trial), and the Quartering Act (gave soldiers the right to enter a home and demand food and housing). -
First Continental Congress convenes
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of representatives from 12 of the 13 colonies. They first convened in Philadelphia in response to the Intolerable Acts. The main accomplishment of the First Continental Congress was making an agreement among the colonies to boycott British goods. -
Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” speech
Patrick Henry gave a speech in a Richmond church that included the famous quote, “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” Henry believed that war with Britain was inevitable and his speech helped convince colonists to begin preparing Virginian troops for war against Great Britain. That same day of Henry’s speech, a resolution was passed to create a militia for self defense in Virginia. -
Paul Revere’s Ride and the Battles of Lexington and Concord
Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride was to alert Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British troops were coming to arrest them. On his way, he alerted each house he passed that, “The British are coming, the British are coming!” The Battles of Lexington and Concord, or “the shot heard ‘round the world”, marked the beginning of the American Revolution. The British aimed to arrest Adams and Hancock in Lexington and destroy the colonists’ cache of weapons in Concord, but the colonists emerged victorious. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill began when the British attempted to control the surge of American militias in Boston. The British took two hills, Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill. The Americans got wind of the plan and went to defend the hills. Eventually, the colonists ran low on ammunition and were told, “Don’t fire ‘til you see the whites of their eyes.” Although the Americans lost in the end, the battle showed them that they could hold up against the British and that war was now the only solution. -
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense published
Common Sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that advocated for independence from Britain. Paine used moral and political arguments to convince colonists that equal rights and independence were worth fighting for. The pamphlet sold more than 100,000 copies within a few months, and it united the colonists and political leaders behind the idea of independence. -
Declaration of Independence adopted
The Declaration of Independence was a document written mainly by Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, and it formally announced and explained that the Thirteen Colonies were going to separate from Britain. It also stated that “all men are created equal” and that they are born with “certain unalienable rights” like “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. On July 2, Congress voted for independence and on July 4, the Declaration of Independence was adopted.