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Albany Plan of Union
Join or Die and First Attempt at Unificiation
Ben Franklin proposed a plan that would unify the colonies under one government and would settle a land dispute. He also planned to unify them due to the threat of the French/Indians. Most colonies did not see the threat the same way VA/PA did. The colonies did not agree and wanted to remain more independent and felt the land problem was VA/PA's problem. They also did not want to depend on other colonies. This was a failure at unification. -
Pitt Breaks Promise to Colonists
William Pitt promised the colonists that if they fought in the French & Indian War, they would get land captured and be re-imbursed. In the end the colonists were not allowed to settle in the new land and were not repayed for fighting. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris ended the French & Indian War. It gave the British a lot of land in North America that was formely the French. -
Pontiac's Rebellion
Pontiac's Rebellion was many rebellions by Native American tribes all across new British lands. This led to the Proclamation of 1763, which created boundaries between colonists and Native Americans. This was very unpopular to the colonists -
Proclamation of 1763
Despite being promised these lands, the British declared that new land west of the Appalachian Mountains was out of bounds to whites and was for Native Americans. This made the colonists angry because they were promised this land if they fought for the British in the War. -
Sugar Act
This placed a tax on sugar. The money went to help provide security for the colonies. The tax was indirect, so when the sugar came in through the ports, the tax was already included in the price. The British also hoped that the act would make the colonists sell to Britan, rather than other countries. This upset the colonists because it hurt the value of their goods. The colonists became more united since they were collectivley against the Sugar Act. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act placed a tax on anything that needed a stamp. The colonists were very upset. Many colonists protested against the Stamp Act. The money collected from the Stamp Act went to protect the area near the Appalachian Mountains. Colonists saw it as a direct way to tax the colonies without their representation or approval. -
Sons of Liberty
In the Summer of 1765, a group called the Sons of Liberty was formed. They were passionately against the Stamp Act. It was made up of mostly shopkeepers and artisans of Boston. They were most known for the Gaspee Incident and the Boston Tea Party. -
Stamp Act Congress
On October 7th, delegates from nine colonies had a meeting to make a plan in protest to the Stamp Act. This was a big step in unifying the colonies since they met as a group to fix a common problem. It shows cooperation between the colonies. This is relevant to the Albany Plan of Union, when there was no co-operation, but 11 years later progress was made and colonies co-operated withh each other. This was a direct tax that affected all colonies. -
Boston Massacre
On March 5, British soldiers fired upon a rowdy American crowd in Boston. 5 colonists were killed. The crowd was unhappy with the Quartering Act, which allowed British soldiers to stay in the homes of colonists. This upset the colonies because they were enraged that 5 colonists were killed by British soldiers. The Commitee of Correspondence sent out a proganda drawing of the massacre. John Adams defended the British soldiers in their criminal trial. Gage took a role on security. -
Gaspee Incident
The Gaspee Incident was when the Sons of Liberty burned a British naval vessel in port in Rhode Island. Strangely, no one was on the ship when they burned it. The Sons of Liberty wanted to send a message with this terrorist act. The colonists were against the British Navy because the British were following the colonists ships, hunting down illegal trades. No one came forward with info on the incident. -
Boston Tea Party
In a response to the Tea Act, the Sons of Liberty stormed 3 ships in Boston Harbor that had tea, and dumped the crates into the Harbor. This showed just how much the colonists were against the Tea Act that gave the British a monopoly on tea. This was a terrorist act by the Sons of Liberty. This led to the Intolerable Acts. -
Intolerable (Coercive) Acts
The Intolerable Acts were a response to the Boston Tea Party. It did many things to hurt the colonies, such as; giving the government the ability to expedite trials to England and allowed troops to stay in the homes of colonists. The colonists were so angry with the Intolerable Acts. The colonists wanted to have the same rights and privleges as the English.This set up martial law on the colonists. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress followed the Intolerable Acts. The colonists met and wanted to be treated like British subjects. They sent their requests to the King and decided if the King did not respond, the would meet again in the Spring of 1775. -
Common Sense
Common Sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. It gave many reasons on why the colonies should become independent from Britian. A famous quote from the publication is "Tis time to part", which basically said that America needed to be its own country. This got other colonists thinking that independence was the way to go. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is the official document where the American colonies declare independence from England. It was written by Thomas Jefferson. This showed how far the colonies had come from 1754 (Albany Plan of Union) to 1776.