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French and Indian War
After six relatively peaceful years, the French–British conflict reignited. The French were more interested in exploiting their territories than in settling them. several military alliances developed out of the French–Native American trade relationship. Major area of contention between France and Great Britain was the rich Ohio River valley. the Virginia governor sent militia, a group of ordinary citizens who performed military duties, to evict the French. -
Writ of Assistance
Writs of assistance, a general search warrant that allowed British customs officials to search any colonial ship or build- ing they believed to be holding smuggled goods. Because many merchants worked out of their residences, the writs enabled British officials to enter and search colonial homes whether there was evidence of smuggling or not. The mer- chants of Boston were outraged. -
Treaty of Paris
The war officially ended when this was signed. Great Britain claimed Canada, North America east of the Mississippi River, and Florida from Spain, which allied itself with France. Allowed Spain to keep its lands west of the Mississippi and the city of New Orleans, which it gained from France in 1762. France had control of only a few islands and small colonies near Newfoundland, in the West Indies, and elsewhere. -
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Treaty of Paris
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Writ of Assistance
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Proclamation of 1763
Established a Proclamation Line along the Appalachians, which the colonists were not allowed to cross. The colonists, wanting to expand westward from the Atlantic seaboard, ignored the proclamation and continued to stream onto Native American lands. -
Sugar Act & Colonists Response
Halved the duty on foreign-made molasses hoping that colonists would pay a lower tax rather than risk arrest by smuggling.Placed duties on certain imports that had not been taxed before. Provided that colonists accused of violating the act would be tried in a vice-admiralty court rather than a colonial court. Each case would be decided by a single judge. Colonial merchants complained that the Sugar Act
would reduce their profits. -
Stamp Act and Colonist's Responce
This act put a tax on documents and printed items such as wills, newspapers, and playing cards. A stamp would be placed on the items to prove that the tax had been paid. It was the first tax that affected colonists directly because it was levied on goods and services. Colonists united to defy the law. Boston shopkeepers, artisans, and laborers organized a secret group called the Sons of Liberty to protest the law. Merchants in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia agreed to boycott British goods. -
Sons of Liberty is formed & Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams, one founder of the Sons of Liberty, the colonists boycotted British goods. The city soon erupted in bloody clashes and later in a daring tax protest, all of which pushed the colonists and Britain closer to war. More abour Sons of Liberty in Stamp Act! -
Declaratory Act
On the same day that it repealed the Stamp Act, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act, which asserted Parliament’s full right “to bind the colonies and people of America in all cases whatsoever.” -
Townshend Acts & Colonists Response
Named after Charles Townshend, the leading government minister. The Townshend Acts taxed goods that were imported into the colony from Britain, such as lead, glass, paint, and paper. The Acts imposed a tax on tea, the most popular drink in the colonies. Colonists boycotted British goods again. City soon was in bloody clashes and later in a daring tax protest, which pushed the colonists and Britain closer to war. Repealed because English merchants felt the loss of revenue. -
Boston Massacre
A mob gathered in front of the Boston Customs House and taunted the British soldiers standing guard there. Shots were fired and five colonists, including Crispus Attucks, were killed or mortally wounded. -
Tea Act
Order to save the nearly bankrupt British East India Company. Act granted the company the right to sell tea to the colonies free of the taxes that colonial tea sellers had to pay. This act cut colonial merchants out of the tea trade by enabling the East India Company to sell tea directly to consumers for less. North hoped the American colonists would buy the cheaper tea; instead, they protested dramatically. -
Boston Tea Party
Group of Boston rebels disguised themselves as Native Americans and proceeded to take action against three British tea ships anchored in the harbor. They dumped 18,000 pounds of the East India Company’s tea into the waters of Boston harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
One law shut down Boston harbor. Another, the Quartering Act, authorized British commanders to house soldiers in vacant private homes and other buildings. In addition to these measures, General Thomas Gage, commander-in-chief of British forces in North America, was appointed the new governor of Massachusetts. To keep the peace, he placed Boston under martial law, or rule imposed by military forces. -
John Locke’s Social Contract
One of the key Enlightenment thinkers was English philosopher Locke. Believed that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property. He contended, every society is based on a social contract—an agreement in which the people consent to choose and obey a government so long as it safeguards their natural rights. If the government violates that social contract by taking away or interfering with those rights, people have the right to resist and even overthrow the government. -
First Continental Congress
56 delegates met in Philadelphia and drew up a declaration of colonial rights. They defended the colonies’ right to run their own affairs and stated that, if the British used force against the colonies, the colonies should fight back. -
Minutemen
Civilian soldiers who pledged to be ready to fight against the British on a minute’s notice. -
Midnight riders: Revere, Dawes, Prescott
Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott rode out to spread word that 700 British troops were headed for Concord. -
Battle of Concord
Between 3,000 and 4,000 minutemen assembled, and they fired on marching troops from behind stone walls and trees. British soldiers fell. The remaining British soldiers made their way back to Boston. Colonists had become enemies of Britain and now held Boston and its encampment of British troops under siege. -
Battle of Lexington
Redcoats reached Lexington, Massachusetts, five miles short of Concord. 70 minutemen drawn up in lines
on the village green. The British ordered them to lay down
their arms and leave, the colonists began to move out without laying down their muskets. Then someone fired, and the British fired back. Eight minutemen were killed and ten more were wounded, but only one British soldier was injured. The Battle, the first battle of the Revolutionary War, lasted only 15 minutes. -
Second Continental Congress
The loyalties that divided colonists sparked endless debates. Some delegates called for independence, while others argued for reconciliation with Great Britain. Despite such differences, the Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Gage sent 2,400 British soldiers up the hill. The colonists held their fire then began to mow down the redcoats before finally retreating. The colonists had lost 450 men, while the British had over 1,000 casualties. The Battle of Bunker Hill be the deadliest battle of the war -
Continental Army
Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Olive Branch Petition
Most felt deep loyalty to George III and blamed the bloodshed on the king’s ministers. Congress sent the king the Olive Branch Petition, urging a return to “the former harmony” between Britain and the colonies. King George rejected the petition. He issued a proclamation stating that the colonies were in rebellion and urged Parliament to order a naval blockade to isolate a line of ships meant for the American coast. -
Publication of Common Sense
Widely read 50-page pamphlet, Paine attacked King George and the monarchy. Paine argued that responsibility for British tyranny lay with “the royal brute of Britain.” His own revolt against the king begun with Lexington and Concord. Said that independence would allow America to trade more freely, independence would give American colonists the chance to create a better society—one free from tyranny, with equal social and economic opportunities for all. -
Loyalists and Patriots
Loyalists— opposed independence and remained loyal to the British king—included judges and governors, as well as people of more modest means. Loyalists thought that the British were going to win and wanted to avoid punishment as rebels. Still others thought that the Crown would protect their rights more effectively than the new colonial governments would.Patriots—the supporters of independence—drew their numbers from people who saw political and economic opportunity in an independent America. -
Declaration of Independence
Virginia lawyer Thomas Jefferson was chosen to prepare the final draft. Locke’s ideas of natural rights, Jefferson’s document declared the rights of “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” to be “unalienable” rights, ones that can never be taken away. Then asserted that a government’s legitimate power can only come from the consent of the governed, and that when a government denies their rights, the people have the right to “alter or abolish” that government. All men are created equal. -
Redcoats Push Washington's Army Across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania
German mercenaries, or hired soldiers, known as Hessians because many of them came from the German region of Hesse. Although the Continental Army attempted to defend New York in late August, the untrained and poorly equipped colonial troops soon retreated. By late fall, the British had pushed Washington’s army across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. -
Washington's Christmas Night Suprise Attack
Led 2,400 men in small rowboats across the ice-choked Delaware River. They then marched to their objective—Trenton, New Jersey—and defeated a garrison of Hessians in a surprise attack. The British soon regrouped, however, and in September of 1777, they captured the American capital at Philadelphia. -
Saratoga
As Burgoyne traveled, militiamen and soldiers from the Continental Army gathered from all over New York and New England. While he was fighting off the colonial troops, Burgoyne didn’t realize that his fellow British officers were preoccupied with holding Philadelphia and weren’t coming to meet him. American troops finally sur- rounded Burgoyne at Saratoga, where he surrendered on October 17, 1777. The surrender at Saratoga turned out to be one of the most important events of the war. -
Valley Forge
While this hopeful turn of events took place in Paris, Washington and his Continental Army—desperately low on food and supplies—fought to stay alive at winter camp in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. More than 2,000 soldiers died, yet the survivors didn’t desert. Their endurance and suffering filled Washington’s letters to the Congress and his friends. -
French-American Alliance
Although the French had secretly aided the Patriots since early 1776, the Saratoga victory bolstered France’s belief that the Americans could win the war. As a result, the French signed an alliance with the Americans in February 1778 and openly joined them in their fight. -
Friedrich von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette
Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian captain, helped to train the Continental Army. Marquis de Lafayette lobbied France for French reinforcements in 1779, and led a command in Virginia in the last years of the war. The raw Continental Army became an effective fighting force. -
British Victories in the South
British expedition took Savannah, Georgia. Their greatest victory of the war, under Generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis captured Charles Town, South Carolina, in May 1780. Clinton left for New York, while Cornwallis continued to conquer land throughout the South. British general moveed the fight to Virginia. Army of 7,500 onto the peninsula between the James and York rivers and camped at Yorktown. Cornwallis planned to fortify Yorktown, take Virginia, move north to join Clinton’s force -
Surrender at Yorktown
French naval force defeated a British fleet and then blocked the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, thereby obstructing British sea routes to the bay. By late September, about 17,000 French and American troops surrounded the British on the Yorktown peninsula and began bombarding them day and night. Less than a month later, on October 19, 1781, Cornwallis finally surrendered. The Americans had shocked the world and defeated the British. -
Treaty of Paris
Peace talks began in Paris in 1782. The American negotiating team includ- ed John Adams, John Jay of New York, and Benjamin Franklin. In September 1783, the delegates signed the Treaty of Paris, which confirmed U.S. inde- pendence and set the boundaries of the new nation. The United States now stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from Canada to the Florida border.
