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Albany Congress
Knowing war would brake out soon,the British called a meeting of colonial leaders.The British wanted the colonies to cooperate with each other to defend against the French.In the end the colonies wouldn't work together even though the Congress agreed with it. -
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French and Indian War
French and Native Americans vs. the British,Iroquois and colonists for control over the Ohio River Valley.The British won the war and the French lost their entire empire to the British. -
Treaty of Paris
The French surrendered to the British and lost all their territory east of the Mississippi and Spanish Florida.After the war was over the French signed the Treaty of Paris and lost most of their territory. -
The Quartering Act
Parliament passed the Quartering Act to save money.To inforce the act the British left 10,000 soldiers in the colonies the act said that the colonists had to provide housing,food and other supplies.The colonists protested saying Parliament was violating their rights.But again the act went on. -
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Pontiac's War
In the last days of the French and Indian War,Pontiac the leader of the Ottawa nation and his allies attacked British forts and settlements near them,half a dozen British forts were destroyed and 2000 settlers killed.The British fought back killing innocent native americans.The British defeated Pontiac's forces in August near Fort Pitt,Pontiac fought for another year and the ended soon after that. -
Proclamation of 1763
The British wanted to avoid any more wars with the native americans so the Brtish banned settlement beyond a line drawn in the Appalachian Mountains.Any settlers west of the had to move to the east of the line.Settlers couldn't go west of the line.This proclamation was ignored and proved close to impossible for the British to enforce.The proclamation failed. -
Sugar Act
The British were in great debt from the Fench and Indian Warso they made a bunch of taxes to pay it off.The act put taxes on sugar including molasses.Merchants who sometimes traded in smuggled goods protested but the act went on. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act Stated that the colonists had to buy special tax stamps for all kinds of products and activities including newspapers,wills,licenses,insurance,policies,land titles,contracts,and other documents.The colonists protested,and the protests were widespread.Merchants in New York,Boston,and Philadelphia organized a boycott of British goods.The protests spread to every colony.In 1766 parliament repealed the stamp act,the protests and boycotts worked. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre happened because of all the taxes the British were adding on.Some people surrounded a small group of British soldiers throwing rocks and snow while shouting at them.One of the frightened soldiers fired his musket into the group the soldiers killed 5 and injured 6.The Governor calmed things down by having the 9 soldiers involved arrested for murder.The soldiers had a fair trial and only 2 were convicted for man slaughter,the punishment,having their thumbs branded. -
Tea Act
Parliament passed this act to help the East India Company,one of Britain's most important companies.The company used to make a lot of money selling tea but because of the tea boycott the company was seriously hurt.The Tea Act actually lowered the price of tea so the colonists really shouldn't complain but they do.Some colonists were angry that the East India Company was given a monopoly on selling tea to the colonies.The monopoly hurt colonial merchants and the colonists still had to pay tax. -
Boston Tea Party
A group of colonists called the sons of liberty wanted to stop the East India Company's merchandise to be unloaded,they threatened ship captains who were bringing in the tea.No tea was unloaded in New York,Philadelphia,or other ports.Governor Thomas Hutchinson made sure the tea was unloaded.So one night the Sons of Liberty dressed as Native Americans boarded a tea ship and threw 342 cases of tea into the harbor destroying 1 million dollars worth of tea. -
Intolerable Acts
The Boston Tea Party enraged the British government.The first act closed the port of Boston and 2 more increased the power of the royal governor,abolished the upper house of the Massachusetts legislature,cut the powers of town meetings.A third act states anyone accused of murdering a British colonial official could be tried in Britain.The fourth act strengthened the 1765 Quartering act.The final act was the Quebec Act which setup a government for the territory taken from France. -
First Continental Congress
A meeting of called The First Continental Congress took place in Philadelphia.12 of the 13 colonies sent representative.Only Georgia didn't send a representative.The Congress demanded the British Government to take away the Intolerable Acts and said the colonies have the right to tax and govern themselves.They also said they could train militias to stand up to British troops if necessary.The Congress also called for a boycott of British goods. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The new governor of Massachusetts found out where minutemen were storing weapons in Concord and sent 700 troops to retrieve the weapons and catch some important colonial leaders.Paul Revere and William Dawes road through the night to warn the minutemen.When the British got to Concord 77 minutemen were waiting for the British.Even though the British warned them to go home they refused.A shot rang out,nobody knows who fired but it was the shot the whole world heard the start of a revolution. -
The Second Continental Congress
After the battles of Lexington and Concord most colonists still didn't favor independence,but many of them were ready to stand up to the British.There were three delegates Thomas Jefferson,John Hancock,and Benjamin Franklin.The congress first built an army,they chose George Washington as the commander of the army,also the congress started printing paper money to pat for it all.They were acting like a government. -
Battle for Fort Ticonderoga
83 troops from the Green Mountains went to capture the fort ,when they got there in early morning the British surrendered almost immediately since they were outnumbered 42 to 83.The fort was very important,it was the main route between Canada and the Hudson River Valley and it held many valuable weapons including cannons.After the fort was taken over all the cannons were moved to Boston were George Washington used them and drove the British out. -
Battles of Bunker and Breeds Hill
Bunker and Breed hill are very important for the Americans, as long as they hold those hills,high ground,they'll have the advantage.A British General named Wlliam Howe tried to take Bunker hill with too many troops for the Americans to handle.The Americans would've won had they not ran out of ammo they had the British on the ropes but had to retreat after killing/wounding over 1000 while they only had. About 400 killed/wounded.They showed the world they could fight because of that battle. -
Olive Branch Petition
The petition asked the king to stop fighting and end things peacefully.The next day the congress told the king they'd rather die freemen than live as slaves.After that the king ignored the Olive Branch Petition and said the colonists were in open rebellion and sent 20,000 troops to end the matter. -
Invasion of Quebec
Two American armies were moving into Canada one was led by Richard Montgomery and the other was led by Benedict Arnold.Arnold had a horrible journey,boiling candles,leather and bark for food.The Americans attacked Quebec in a severe snow storm, the attack failed.Montgomery was killed and Arnold was wounded.The Americans stayed outside of Quebec until more troops arrived.They were weakened by hunger and disease so they retreated leaving Canada to the British. -
The British Withdrawal from Boston
The cannons took 3 months to reach Boston.Washington placed the cannons on the high ground overlooking the city.Since the British could no longer defend the city they retreated from Boston and never came back.Even though the Americans took back Boston the British still had the advantage,they had the most powerful navy in the world.They had well trained troops,and lots of them.They also hired mercenaries.The war wasn't over yet.