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The French and Indian War Begins
The French and Indian war was the first time that the colonies and Britian had any hostility between them. Britian had General Washington, who was in charge of most of the battles in the four year war. The French used their native American allies, and Britian used theirs. Britian also had the help of the colonies in this war, and when they won, the colonies expected something for them in return for their help: land. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris ended officially the French Indian war, giving land to the British the Ohio valley, and Quebec. www.ushistory.org/us/8d.asp -
Royal proclamation
The Royal Proclamation stated that although the British had won the territory in the Ohio Valley, the colonists were not allowed to move out West because that territory was strictly for the Native American's, and the king needed to protect them from the people. This led to a major uprising because the Colonists thought that they should in fact have the right to the land. www.ushistory.org/us/9a.asp -
Sugar Act
The Sugar act was a tax put on the colonists who now wanted to purchase sugar. It was higher than that in Britian, and this angered the colonists who thought that since they were all techincally British, they should all be given the same tax. In addition, this tax also limited the foriegn goods that the colonies were allowed to trade. www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/sugaract.htm -
Stamp Act
www.history.org/history/teaching/tchcrsta.cfm
This tax required colonists to put a tax on every single piece of paper they wrote on. Although the actual cost was pretty small, it still added up over the course of time, causing the colonists to want rebellion. -
Stamp Act Congress
www.ushistory.org/us/10a.asp
This was the first time that the colonies truly came together to come up with something that would benefit them all. They wanted to do something about the taxes that were being put on them unfairly, so they did. Their stamp act was approved by every parliment member except for one. -
Townshend Acts
After the stamp tax was repealed, the British argued that they didn't have enough money from the colonists, so they used the Townshend Acts as a way to get more taxes from the colonists. Everyday items were taxed much more than they would have been had the colonists lived in Britian, and this angered them because they felt that they should be treated the same as every other British person. "www.masshist.org/revolution/townshend.php" -
Boston Massacre
www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/massacre.htm
About 50 colonists attacked the British soldiers because they were sick of the Townshend Acts. They started throwing snowballs at them which resulted in 11 colonist deaths. -
Boston Tea Party
"www.boston-tea-party.org"
A few colonists dressed up like Mohawk Indians and invaded the ships with the tea on them, dumping all of the tea on the ships into the Boston Harbor as an act of rebellion. -
First Continental Congress
"www.usfca.edu/fac_staff/conwell/revolution/congress.htm"
Led by Samuel Adams, John Adams, George Washington, and Patrick Henry. They voted to cut off all trade with Britain until the taxes were cut. -
Patrick Henry "Give Me Liberty"
"Give me liberty or give me death!" Patrick Henry, a delegate of the colonies says a speech in the Saint John's church at a meeting, telling people that they needed to raise a militia and stop being the victims.
www.history.org/almanack/life/politics/giveme.cfm -
Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
"The Regulars are coming out!" Paul Revere, accompanied by two friends, Prescott and Dawe, rode through the towns warning the people that the Regulars-redcoats were in fact coming their way to arrest the leaders of the Militia in Concord, Ma. "www.paulreverehouse.org/ride/real.html" -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
"www.ushistory.org/us/11c.asp"
The American's found out about the British's plan to attack, and they attacked first. The colonial militias were set up, and they called themselves minutemen. The British soldiers arrived in Lexington only to find the minutemen awaiting them, already armed. It is not known who fired the first shot in this battle. There were 273 British casualties that day, and only 94 colonists were wounded/killed. -
Second Continental Congress meets
www.ushistory.org/us/10e.asp
In May of 1775, the Second continental congress began meeting due to the redcoats being in Boston. They began meeting in Philadelphia, where the rest of the decisions about the war would be made. -
Fort Ticonderoga
"www.fortticonderoga.org"
Arnold and Allen, American soldiers, took Fort Ticonderoga in the middle of the night from the British. This was the beginning of the real war for the colonists, because Fort Ticonderoga was very important in what was yet to come. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
www.ushistory.org/us/11d.asp
American troops moved into British territory, hoping to bombard British ships in Boston harbor. Instead, they gained control of two hills close to the British in Boston. The British were stunned to see what the American's had done the next day, but they attacked never the less, even though they didn't have the upper hand. They went up the Breech hill three times, and only succeeded on the last time because the Americans were running out of ammunition. -
"Common Sense" published
www.ushistory.org/paine/commonsense/
Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense, a series of essays explaining to the American Colonists the importance of freedom, and why they shouldn't allow the British to walk all over them the way that they had been. -
British Evacuate Boston
www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/war-for-independence/resources/british-evacuation-boston-1776
The British decide to leave Boston due to the Americans gaining too much land on them, and they were not in a safe position anymore. They had lost the upper hand, and needed to leave. -
Declaration of Independence Announced
www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/
The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson and others in the Second continental congress, and was approved on July 2nd, but not announced until July 4th. -
"The Crisis" published
www.ushistory.org/paine/
This was an inspiriing essay written by Thomas Paine that was more popular than watching the Super Bowl is in this day and age. It inspired the army to keep fighting, and the people to want freedom. -
Washington Captures Trenton
www.ushistory.org/washingtoncrossing/history/crossagain.htm
Washington crossed the Delaware river with his men, captured Trenton, and returned with prisionors on Christmas night. -
British defeated at Saratoga
www.ushistory.org/us/11g.asp
The British decide to focus more on the South since they had been attacking in the North too frequently. They attacked south of the town Saratoga, but they were broken and forced to surrender. -
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Winter at Valley Forge
www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/
No battle was fought here, but low morale was overcome and they had to battle against negative spirits and being the underdogs all winter. -
John Paul Jones defeats the Serapis
www.marinersmuseum.org/sites/micro/usnavy/03/03c.htm
Because the English navy was so busy, their commercial ships were weak. This gave the Americans oppertunity to attack them. John Paul Jones was one of the many continental raiders. He defeated many ships in the British ocean, including the Serapis. -
Benedict Arnold plans found out
www.history.org/foundation/journal/summer01/benedictarnold.cfm
Benedict Arnold is one of the most famous traitors in all of American History. He had planned to be a spy for the British in return for money and a spot in their military as general. He had convinced George Washington to appoint him as general, but when he was found out, everyone was furious, especially Washington. He ended up using the betrayal as an advantage on the British. -
Cornwallis surrenders
www.aoc.gov/capitol-hill/historic-rotunda-paintings/surrender-lord-cornwallis
This ends the last major campaign of the Revolutionary War. Cornwallis was looking for a sea escape, since Yorktown was a peninsula, but the French navy guarded the sea for the American's while George Washington traveled to finish the war. Finally, Cornwallis surrenders, due to French and American troops
