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The Albany Congress
The French and Indian war was about to break out, so the British formed a congress in Albany, New York. They hoped to form an alliance with the Iroquis, so they could take the Ohio river valley, but was rejected. -
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French and Indian War
French/Native Americans V.S British/Iroquis/colonists.
Control over the Ohio River Valley.
British win war.French lost entire empire in North America.
They battled in North America -
The Treaty of Paris
After the French and Indian war, the French signed a treaty in France with the British. This made French lose almost all of their north american possessions. The British got also Spanish Florida along with all French territory in north america. This was the terms before the war, and was carried out afterward. -
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Pontiac's War
The Ottawa nation leader, Pontiac, created an alliance of western Native Americans. Pontiac's allied forces attacked British forts and settlements. Nearly half a dozen British forts were destroyed and at least 2,000 backcountry settlers were slayed. The British (to counter the native's viciousness) attacked Native Americans who didn't attack them. The British won the war near Fort Pitt in August. -
Proclamation of 1763
To avoid more wars with Native Americans, the British government issued the Proclamation of 1763.This banned colonists from settling west of a line drawn along the Appalachian mountains. Many settlers were angered by this and ignored the proclamation. -
Sugar Act
Parliament made a duty (import tax) on several products including molasses. It also called for a harsh punishment for smugglers. Colonial merchants argued, because they sometimes traded in smuggled goods. -
Stamp Act
Parliament passed an even more unpopular law. The Stamp Act. This required that all colonists buy special tax stamps for all kinds of products such as newspapers, wills, licenses, insurance policies, land titles, contracts, and other documents. The settlers boycotted the act until Virgina's House of Burgesses passed several resolutions declaring they had the right to tax themselves. The protests worked, however, during that time, Parliament passed the Declartory Act, which will cause problems. -
Quartering Act
Parliament passed a Quartering act in 1765 (one year after the Sugar Act) to save money. The British kept about 10,000 soldiers to enforce the Proclamation of 1763. The act made settlers quarter (house) British troops (provide food and other supplies). Settlers were angry with Parliament, saying they were violating their rights. -
The Boston Massacre
The settlers boycot hurted the British serverly, especially the merchants and manufacturers. The Parliament repealed all the Townshend duties, except on tea. A crowd of angry workers and sailers surrounded a small group of British soldiers and threw rocks, snowballs, sticks, and ice at them. This frightned the soldiers, so the soldiers opened fire at the crowd. This killed 5 and wounding 6 people. The governer arrested them and had them trialed. Their lawyer defended them. Only 2 were guilty. -
Tea Act
Parliament passed the Tea Act to help the British East India Company. However, the colonist's boycott of the tea seriously hurt the company. The Tea Act actually lowered the price of tea and Fredrick North felt the colonists shouldn't object the act because it lowered the price of the tea. Some colonists reacted angrily because it allowed the British East India Company a monopoly (total control of a market for a certain product) on selling tea. This affected the Dutch tea smugglers greatly. -
Boston Tea Party
The Sons of Liberty organized in port cities to stop the East India Company tea from being unloaded. They threatened ship captains and merchants who would buy it. No tea was unloaded in New York, Philadelphia, or other ports. However, the Boston governor, Thomas Hutchinson decided to make sure the tea was unloaded. Things with the British were really tense until a group of men dressed as Native Americans dumped thousands of dollars worth of tea into Boston Harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
King George the third was enraged after the Boston Tea Party. In response, Parliament passed 4 laws that
First:closed Boston Harbor
Second:increased the power of the royal governor
Third:abolish the upper house of the Massachusetts legislature and cut powers of town meetings
Fourth:Strengthening of the 1765 Quartering Act
Parliament also passed the Quebec Act which expanded down to Ohio, which made settlers lose their homes. -
Olive Branch Petition
A petition to make peace with King George the third. The petition had a symbol of an olive branch, which has been a symbol of peace since ancient times. The Congress hoped this petition would bring peace, but King George didn't even respond to the petition. King George said they were in open rebellion. Parliament also sent 20,000 soldiers to end the rebellion. -
First Continental Congress
The Committee of Correspondence organized a meeting in Philadelphia known as The First Continental Congress. The Congress demanded the repeal (official end) of the Intolerable Acts and declared that the colonies had the right to tax and govern themselves. It also called for the training of militias to stand up to British troops if necessary. The Congress declared new boycotts on British goods. They would meet again in may 1775 if their demands are not met. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The British had no intention in meeting the demands. Then they heard the colonists were smuggling (hiding) arms. The new Massachusetts governor sent 700 troops to seize the arms and leaders. Down by Concord and Lexington, 77 minutemen (men who could be ready to battle in a minutes notice) waited for the British. Nobody knows who fired the first shot (the start of the American Revolution), but the British brutally defeated the minutemen. A much bigger battle had 4,000 Americans attack and win. -
The Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress gathered in Philadelphia. The congress included Thomas Jefferson, a young lawyer from Virginia, Boston merchant John Hancock and Benjamin Franklin. The congress decided to form an army at the lead of George Washington. To pay for the army, the congress made printed money. The Second Continental Congress was starting to act like a government. -
Battle for Fort Ticonderoga
The colonists made a daring attack on Fort Ticonderoga. The fort was made at the southern end of Lake Champlain, and it protected the water route to Canada. Leading the force was a blacksmith Ethan Allen. Most men from his force where from the Green Mountains. This gave them the name, Green Mountain Boys. Ethan's force had 83 men. The British had 42 men inside. The guards were asleep in their beds. The British fort surrendered immediately. -
Battles of Bunker and Breeds Hill
The British general decided to attack straight up Breed's hill. The American's leader knew his forces didn't have much ammo. The Americans waited for the British to be 150 feet away to shoot. The British got heavily attacked by the Americans. The first British attack failed, and the second. But not the third. The third British attack was successful due to the Americans using all their ammo. Washington leaded his troops to Breed's and took over the hill. Then Washington had cannons put on BunkerH -
Invasion of Quebec
While Washington trained men for combat, Benedict Arnold and Richard Montgomery lead 2 forces. Montgomery lead his troops from Ticonderoga, while Benedict Moved north through Maine. Benedict and his troops had to boil candles, bark, and shoe leather to eat for food during the cruel winter. The troops later attacked Quebec during a severe snow storm. Montgomery was killed and the attack turned back. Benedict was wounded during battle. The troops left Quebec to British after they waited a while. -
The British Withdrawal from Boston
Washington placed cannons on top of high ground, which overlooked Boston. The British realized that they couldn't defend the city anymore and left for good.