-
Great Awakening
The Great Awakening was a Christian movement in the 1730 that became widespread in the American colonies. Ministers began holding revials to renew people's entusiasam. Soon the the ministers started communicating better and started more inter-colonial trade. The Great Awakening eventually encouraged colonist to demand greater political equality. -
French and Indian War
The French and the Bristish began making plans for another war. Each side had certain advantages. The Albany Plan of Union called for the colonioe to unite for the first time under a president for a grand council. The plan was rejected because the colonies did not want to give up their individual power. The turning point in the war was when British General, James Wolfe, prepared a daring attack on Quebec, the capital of French Canada. -
The French and Indian War
The Bitish captured Quebec, giving them an advantage in the war. In 1763 the warring countries signed the Treaty of Paris, ending the war. Britian had claim to all land east of the Mississipi River and Spain was now its only major European competitor in North America. -
Proclamation of 1763
The Bristish Proclamation banned further colonial settlement west of the Appalacian Mountains and ordering the colonists who already lived there to move their settlements. An Indian attack on Bristish position at Fort Pitt failed after many casualities and caused the Indian's to leave Pontiac's alliance, forcing him to surrender in 1766. Pontiac's rebellion casued great concern amongest the Bristish government. -
Proclamation of 1763
The colonists reaction to the Proclamation of 1763 proves that the British officials and the colonist have differnent ideas about waht is best for the colonies -
Sugar Act
The Parliament had to pay for the French and Indian War. To help pay for a standing army in the colonis, the Parliament began raising taxes in the colonies. This was called the Sugar Act. The Sugar Act set duties or taxes on molasses and sugar imported to the colonists -
The Stamp Act
When Prime minister Grenville heard the colonist's complainets about the Sugar Act he asked if they had any better ideas. The colonists failed to come up with any ideas, so he proposed the Stamp Act. It requires the colonists to pay fo an official stamp when ever they bought paper items, Some of the colonists began protesting. They formed secert societies like the Sons of Liberty. In 1765 people asked the Parliament to abolish the Stamp Act. -
The Stamp Act
Some of the merchants and London complained that the Stamp Act was ruining their trade with the colonists. The British were disturbed that the colonists thought they had a right to question the British's ability to tax them. Parliament then declared the Britain not the colonies made the rules and the colonist could not expect more than that -
The Townshend Acts
The Townshend acts, passed in 1769, placed duties on imported glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. Many colonists believed that these acts took to much power away from the colonial courts and legislatures and gave it to the British. They feared the royal officials did not have the best interest in the colonies. The colonist decided to put together another large scale boycott.Governor Francis requested troops to help restore order, The troops did not arrive until 1767 -
Boston Massacre
Many of the colonists felt threatened by the amount of British troops in the colonies. The British soldiers knew they were not welcome. On March 5, 1770, the tension exploded. A British soldier got into a arguement with a civilian and struck him. Word spread through the town and a small crowd gathered, shouting insults at the British soldier. Soon more British troops arrived and suddenly they shot into the crowd killing five people. The colonists were outraged. -
Boston Massacre
Two laywers were hired to defend the soldiers. During this uproar Thomas Preaston was leader of the soldiers. Him and six other soldiers were found guilty. The trial helped prevent further violence in the colonies by quieting the unrest -
The Tea Act
The British estimated the the colonist bought several million pounds of tea each year. All of these purschases attracted the attention of Britsih East India Company, which asked the Parliament for permission to sell its teas directly to the colonies. The Parliament passed the Tea Act in 1773. Many colonial merchants went out of buisness because the colonists were no longer buying their products. -
The Tea Act
Other British Companies began to sell there products directly to the colonies, putting more colonial merchants out of buisness. This inspired colonists to unite aganinst the Tea Act. -
The Boston Tea Party
Three ships loaded with British tea arrive in the Boston Harbor in Novemeber of 1773. Liberty demanded that the ships leave without unloading thir cargo. The captains were afraid to anger the British Prime Minister so thhey decided to lay their ships anchor. On the night of December 16, 1773 a group of colonists disguised as Indians dumped 90,000 pounds of tea into the Boston Harbor. The new British Prime Minister was furious when he heard the news about the Boston tea Pary -
Intolerable Acts
After the Boston Tea Party the Parliament decided to pass the Coercive Acts, which the colonists called the Intolerable Acts. The first of the four acts shut down the Boston Harbor untilo the colonists paid for all the tea. The Intolerable Acts also canceled Massachutets charter and moved trials of colonial offiscials to Britian, which allowed for the New Quartering Act and the Quebec Act. This allowed Canada to control the Ohio region. The Intolerable Acts were repealed in1778. -
The Battle of Lexington and Concord
Tensions were in the colonies. Boston, Massachussets was the certain of there protests. Minutement were ready to fight at a moments notice. In 1775 two men rode around town on their houses yelling 'the British are coming.' On a morning in April fewer than 70 minutemen met a much larger force of British troops. The battle was over in minutes. The colonists were outnumbered and eight were found deas and 10 were badly injured -
Battle of Bunker Hill
After the first session of the Second Continental Congress word spread that a group of colonists had won a victory over the British. On May tenth the colonists sneaked up on British Fort Ticonderoga and quickly took the fort. After the battle of Concord the Brtitish withdrew to Boston. The colonial forces held the British there under siege. In 1775 colonists learned that the British planned to secure Charleston. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The next morning the British were suprised to find that the colonists had taken Charleston. The British were furious. They still decided to mount a frontal attack aganist the colonists. Most of the fighting took place on Breed's hill. This battle demonstrated that despite superior British firepower the colonist could still withstand an attack from the British. -
Common Sense
In 1776 a pamphlet appeared on the streets of Philadelphia written bt Thomas Paine. It was called Common Sense. News of breaking away from Britian spread through the colonies. Soon there were half a million copies of the pamphlet. Paine said that laws should be made by the people . He wrote a controversial proposal that soon gained many supporters. The Congress decided to make people's dreams of independence come true. -
Battle of Saratoga
Howe almost crushed the Partiots in 1777, but he let them retreat. Allowing them to retreat gave the Patriots time to reorginize themselves. Burgoyne did not know Howe was still in Pennsylvania fighting the Patriots, so he made his way through New York. This started the Battle of Saratoga. I 1777 Burgoyne officially surrounded. This Battle marked the Patriots greatest victory so far. -
Battle of Yorktown
In 1781 the war was going badly for the British. They were losing money and allies fast. Cornwallis was preparing an attack on the Southern Patriot force. Lafayette waited for the British to make a move. At Washington's request a French fleet of soldiers was sailing to Chesapeake Bay. In September the Patriots surrounded Cornwallis's army. They held the British under siege for weeks unitl Cornwallis surroundered fearing a bloody defeat. -
The Treaty of Paris
After Cornwallis's surrendered to the Patriots had captured the largest British troop. In 1781 a committee from the COntinental Congress began seirous peace negotians with the Britsih. It took more than two years for them to work out the Treaty of Paris. The Bbritish formally accepted American roghts to settle and trade west of the orginal colonies. Only the strength and loyalty of the soldiers and colonists made the victory possible.
