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French and Indian War
As the french empire in North America expanded, it collided with the growing British empire. During the late 17th and first half of the 18th centuries, France and Great Britian had fought three inconclusive wars. Each war had begun in Europe but spread to their overseas colonies. In 1754, after six relatively peaceful years, the French-British conflict reignited. This conflict is the French and Indaian War. -
Writ of Assistance
In 1761, the royal governor of Massachusetts authorized the use of the writs of assistance, a general search warrant that allowed British customs officials to search any colonial ship or building 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 merchants of Boston were outraged. -
Treaty of Paris
The war officially ended in 1763 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Great Britain claimed Canada and virtually all of North America east of the Mississippi River. Britain also took Florida from Spain, which had allied itself with France.The treaty permitted Spain to keep possession of its lands west of the Mississippi and the city of New Orleans, which it had gained from France in 1762. France retained control of only a few islands and small colonies near Newfoundland, in the West Indies. -
Proclamation of 1763
To avoid further costly conflicts with Native Americans, the British government prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. The Proclamation of 1763 established a Proclamation Line along the Appalachians, which the colonists were not allowed to cross. However, the
colonists, eager to expand westward from the increasingly crowded Atlantic seaboard, ignored the proclamation and continued to stream onto Native American lands. -
Sugar Act and colonists response
The Sugar Act did three things. It halved the duty on
foreign-made molasses in the hopes that colonists would pay
a lower tax rather than risk arrest by smuggling. It placed
duties on certain imports that had not been taxed before.
Most important, it provided that colonists accused of violating
the act would be tried in a vice-admiralty court rather
than a colonial court. Colonial merchants complained that the Sugar Act would reduce their profit and no right to tax. -
Stamp Act and colonist response
In March 1765 Parliament passed the Stamp Act. This act
imposed 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. Previous taxes had been indirect, involving duties on imports. In May of 1765, the colonists united to defy the law. -
Sons of Liberty is formed and Samual Adams
Boston shopkeepers, artisans, and laborers organized a secret resistance group called the Sons of Liberty to protest the law. Meanwhile, the colonial assemblies declared that Parliament lacked the power to impose taxes on the colonies because the colonists were not represented in Parliament. The Acts also imposed a tax on tea, the most popular drink in the colonies. Led by men such as Samuel Adams, one of the founders of the Sons of Liberty, the colonists again boycotted British goods. -
Declaratory Act
But 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 and colonist response. Why they were repealed
Then, in 1767, Parliament passed theTownshend Acts, 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. Lord Frederick North, who later followed Grenville as the prime minister, realized that the Townshend Acts were costing more to enforce than they would ever bring in.North persuaded Parliament to repeal theTownshend Acts, except for the tax on tea. -
John Locke's Social Contract
One of the key Enlightenment thinkers was English philosopher John Locke. Locke maintained that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property. Furthermore, 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 even overthrow the government. -
Boston Massacre
On March 5, 1770, 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. Colonial leaders quickly labeled the confrontation the Boston Massacre. -
Tea Act
In 1773, Lord North devised the Tea Act in
order to save the nearly bankrupt British East India Company. The act granted the company the right to sell tea to the colonies free of the taxes that colonial tea sellers had to pay. This action would have cut colonial merchants out of the tea trade by enabling the East India Company to sell its tea directly to consumers for less. North hoped the American colonists would simply buy the cheaper tea; instead, they protested dramatically. -
Boston Tea Party
On the moonlit evening of December 16, 1773, a large group of Boston rebels disguised themselves as Native Americans and proceeded to take action against three British tea ships anchored in the harbor. In this incident, later known as the
Boston Tea Party, the “Indians” dumped 18,000 pounds of the East India Company’s tea into the waters of Boston harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
In 1774, Parliament responded by passing a series of measures that colonists called the 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. -
First Continental Congress meets
In response to Britain’s actions, the committees of correspondence assembled the First Continental Congress. In September 1774, 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
After the First Continental Congress met, colonists in many eastern New England towns stepped up military preparations. Minutemen—civilian soldiers who pledged to be ready to fight against the British on a minute’s notice—quietly stockpiled firearms and gunpowder. General Thomas Gage soon learned about these activities. In the spring of 1775, he ordered troops to march from Boston to nearby Concord, Massachusetts, and to seize illegal weapons. -
Continental Army
Despite such differences, the Congress agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Midnight riders: Revere, Dawes, Prescott
Colonists in Boston were watching, and on the night of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel
Prescott rode out to spread word that 700 British troops were headed for Concord.The darkened countryside rang with church bells and gunshots—prearranged signals, sent from town to town, that the British were coming. -
Battle of Lexington
As they neared the town,they saw 70 minutemen drawn up in lines on the village green.The British commander ordered the minutemen to lay down their arms and leave, and the colonists began to move out without laying down their muskets.Then someone fired, and the British soldiers sent a volley of shots into the departing militia. 8 minutemen were killed and 10 more were wounded, but only 1 British soldier was injured.The Battle of Lexington, the first battle of the Revolutionary War, lasted 15 min. -
Battle of Concord
The British marched on to Concord, where they found an empty arsenal. After a brief skirmish with minutemen, the British soldiers lined up to march back to Boston, but the march quickly became a slaughter. Between 3,000 and 4,000
minutemen had assembled by now, and they fired on the marching troops from behind stone walls and trees. British soldiers fell by the dozen. Bloodied and humiliated, the remaining British soldiers made their way back to Boston that
night. Colonists had become enemies. -
Second Continental Congress
In May of 1775, colonial leaders called the Second Continental Congress in Philidelphia to debate their next move. The loyalties that divided colonists sparked endless debates at the second continental congress. 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
Cooped up in Boston,British general Thomas Gage decided to strike at militiamen on Breed's Hill,north of the city, near Bunker Hill. On June 17,1775, Gage sent 2,400 British doldiers up the hill.The colonists held their fire until the last min and then began to move down the advancing redcoats before finally retreating.By the time the smoke cleared,the colonists had lost 450 men,while the British suffered over 1,000 casualties.Battle of Bunker Hill would prove to be the deadliest battle of war. -
Olive Branch Petition
On July 8, Congress sent the king the so-called Olive Branch Petition, urging a return to “the former harmony” between Britain and the colonies. King George flatly rejected the petition. Furthermore, 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. -
Redcoat push Washington's Army Across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania
The British sailed into New York harbor in the summer of 1776 with a force of about 32,000 soldiers. They included thousands of 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. -
Loyalists and Patriots
Americans found themselves on different sides of the conflict. Loyalists—those who opposed independence and remained loyal to the British king—included judges and governors, as well as people of more modest means. Many Loyalists thought that the British were going to win and wanted to avoid punishment as rebels.Patriots—the supporters of independence—drew their numbers from people who saw political and economic opportunity in an independent America. Many Americans remained neutral. -
Publication of Common Sense
Just as important were the ideas of Thomas Paine.In a widely read 50-page pamphlet titled Common Sense, Paine attacked King George and the monarchy. Paine declared that independence would allow America to trade more freely.He also stated that independence would give American colonists the chance to create a better society—one free from tyranny, with equal social and economic opportunities for all.Common Sense sold nearly 500,000 copies in 1776 and was widely applauded. In April 1776, George W. -
Declaration of Independence
Congress appointed a committee to prepare a formal Declaration of Independence,Virginia lawyer Thomas Jefferson was chosen to prepare the final draft. Drawing on 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. The Declaration states flatly that “all men are created equal.” July 4, 1776, they adopted the Declaration of Independence. -
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. -
Saratoga
As Burgoyne traveled through forested wilderness, 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 surrounded Burgoyne at Saratoga, where he surrendered on October 17, 1777. -
Washington’s Christmas Night Surprise Attack
Desperate for an early victory, Washington risked everything on one bold stroke set for Christmas night, 1776. In the face of a fierce storm, he 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. -
French American Alliance
The surrender at Saratoga turned out to be one of the most important events of the war. 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. -
British Victories in the South
At the end of 1778,a British expedition easily took Savannah, Georgia.In their greatest victory of the war,the British under Generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis captured Charles Town,South Carolina,May 1780.Cornwallis continued to conquer land throughout the South.In early 1781,the colonists continued to battle Cornwallis-hindering his efforts to take the Carolinas. He chose to move the fight to Virginia. Camped/plan to fortify Yorktown,take VG then move North to join Clintons forces. -
Friedrich von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette
In February 1778,in the midst of the frozen winter at Valley Forge,American troops began an amazing transformation. Friedrich von Steuben helped to train the Continental Army.Other foreign military leaders,such as the Marquis de Lafayette, also arrived to offer their help.Lafayette lobbied France for French reinforcements in 1779, led a command in Virginia in the last years of the war.With help European military leaders,Continental Army bcame effective fighting force. -
British Surrender at Yorktown
Shortly after learning of Corwallis’s actions, the armies of Lafayette and Washington moved south toward Yorktown. Meanwhile, a 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 17k 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. -
Treaty of Paris
Peace talks began in Paris in 1782. The American negotiating team included John Adams, John Jay of New York, and Benjamin Franklin. In September 1783, the delegates signed the Treaty of Paris, which confirmed U.S. independence 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.
