-
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War was also known as the seven years war, was fought between Great Britain and France. It started over whether or not the Ohio River valley was the British or France's territory.
They both had good and bad things about their armies. The colonies had a great leader, George Washington, they were familiar with the land, and they had french alliance. The British had well-trained soldiers, the most powerful army in the world, and lots of money. -
Treaty of 1763
The treaty of 1763 was also known as the treaty of paris. It was signed by Great Britain, France, and all their allies. It ended the seven years war. France gave up all their land and lost canadian colonies, and the British gained it all. -
Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 stated that settlers could not settle west of the Proclamation line. That line was drawn along the appalachian mountains. It was another way for the British to control the colonist but it ended up failing. Settlers didn't really respect it and crossed that line anyways. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was put in place to stop the illegal trade of sugar between the French and the colonist. It also stopped smuggling and molasses.
The colonist were unhappy about it because Great Britain was making money off this by taxing things like sugar, coffee, and cloth. And because the colonist had no say in their government, they just had to let it happen and couldn't do anything about it. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre happened when a bunch of protesters called Patriots were in the streets of boston. All of a sudden a peaceful protest turned into a violent one. British soldiers shot and killed eleven colonist. The colonist were there protesting against the taxes being forced on them but instead of getting their point across, some were killed. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea party wasn't a real party, it was a dumping of millions of dollars worth of tea, years worth of tea into the ocean. After the British put a tax on tea for colonist, they took matters into their own hands and boycotted it. Not only did the boycott it, the night of December 16, 1773 a group called Sons of Liberty dumped boxes of tea off a ship in the Boston Harbor to show how mad they were about being taxed on things without having control over it. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Act were put in place to punish the colonist for the boston tea party. There were 4 laws passed. The first one was you couldn't use the Harbor, they closed it down. The second one stated that the British could replace the local government with a more powerful military based one. The third one allowed colonist who committed crimes be tried in another colony or even england. The fourth one said colonist had to house British soldiers and provide them with what they need to survive. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The battle of Lexington and Concord was the start of the American Revolution. Tons of British troops marched to Concord on April 18th. They were stopped by a small group of colonist, shots were fired and a handful of colonist were killed and one british soldier was killed. The British soon continued their walk to Concord, and when they got there lots of colonist troops were there waiting. They fired more shots and eventually the British troops left. In the end the British had more men killed. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought in Massachusetts near Breed hill not Bunker hill. The British were going to find the colonist to attack them. The colonist knew they were coming but didn't have a lot of ammo so they waited to fire till they really needed to. When the colonist saw them coming they opened fire and the british troops backed out, then they tried again and again and finally won. After this battle the realized that fighting with the colonist was going to be harder than expected. -
Publication of common sense
The publication of common sense was January of 1776. It was written by Thomas Paine and it was a best-seller at this time in history. The Pamphlet was a way of expressing why the colonies should have independence from Great Britain. It talked about things like the government and how monarchies are not good in anyway and how they shouldn't wait any longer to fight for their independence. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is important because it is a signed document that declared America its freedom. It was written by Thomas Jefferson. It goes to explain how the colonist feel and why they wanted to overthrow Great Britain. It was written in 4 main parts. There's the Preamble that tells the reason for that document, the declaration of their rights, the reasons why King George wasn't good, and then it finally declares their independence. -
Battle of Trenton
The Battle of trenton was a small battle taken place in New Jersey. It wasn't a major battle but it was important because it was a comeback after losing a bunch in New York. Many people also joined the constitutional army after it and it was a victory for the colonist which means it was closer to their independence. -
Valley Forge
Valley Forge was the place where colonist were gonna be living in the cold winter. It was a place for housing and military training. George Washington took his troops there and they built little houses to stay in. While soldiers families stay in those little houses, they were out training in cold weather. Despite how cold it was, they got better as a military and was ready for their upcoming battles. -
Battle of Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga was actually two battles. The first one was the Battle of Freedom's Farm and the second one was the Battle of Bemis Heights. These battle were considered a turning point in the war because the colonies had more of that feeling like they could win this war. They also ask France and Spain to join them but it took awhile for them to come around. In the end the colonies also known as the Continental Army took home the victory. -
Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown took place in Virginia. It was a major battle for the colonist because they forced the British to surrender after trapping them. This battle was the last one and it ended the war. After this battle it was the start to their independence and America became it's own country soon after. -
Battle of Cowpens
The Battle of Cowpens took place in South Carolina. It was known as a turning point in the war because the British backed out and the Colonist felt like they were closer to victory. Daniel Morgan is the one that led the American colonist. More British soldiers ended up dying than colonist. This battle then leads to a victory in Yorktown. -
Treaty of Paris 1783
The Treaty of Paris 1783 was the signed document ended the war. It gave America its freedom and rights for their own country. It removed the debts that the British said they had to pay for. It showed the border's for the US. This was a huge deal for America and will be a victory for them, forever.
