-
The Albany Congress
The British Government called a meeting of colonial leaders. The congress meeting took place in Albany, New York. They wanted this meeting to take place because they wanted the colonists to agree to cooperate in defending themselves against the French. The British also invited the Iroquois to the meeting to form an alliance with them. The Iroquois refused to make an alliance. The Albany plan of union would allow them to have control over urget matters in the western settlements. -
Period: to
The French and Indian war
The British Iroquois and the colonists Vs The French, Huron's, and Algonquin Indians. They were fighting for control over the Ohio river valley. (Territory in North America.) In the end the British won the war and gained all of the Frenches North American claim and left the French with little to no land in the Americas. -
The Treaty of Paris
After losing Quebec, France could no longer defend its north american claim against the British. In February of 1763 the French signed The Treaty of Paris because they had lost the war. Once they had signed the treaty the had lost all of there North American claim to the British. -
The Quartering Act
The Purpose of this act was to save money. The British kept about 10000 soldiers in the colonies. This act required colonists to house British troops and provide them with food and other supplies. Once again the colonist complained that parliament was violating their rights. -
Period: to
Pontiac's war
The leader of the Ottawa nation, Pontiac formed an alliance of western Native Americans. In May 1763 Pontiac and his allies attacked British forts and settlements and killed over 2000 settlers. The war ended in September 1764 near Fort Pitt. Pontiac did all of this to stop British expansion. -
The proclamation of 1763
The proclamation of 1763 was when the British wanted to avoid further wars with there Native American allies in North America. The proclamation banned colonial settlements west of a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains. The proclamation angered many colonist who believed they had the right to reside any where they wanted. The proclamation was widely ignored and proved impossible for the British to enforce -
The Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was a British effort to impose taxes on the colonist in North America in 1764 when parliament passed the act. The sugar act put a import tax on several products like molasses. It also called for harsh punishments of smugglers. Then Colonial Merchants who sometimes trades in smuggled goods protested. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act required that all colonist in the colonies to buy special tax stamps for all kinds of products and activities. The stamps had to be placed on newspapers, wills, licenses, insurance policies, land titles, contracts, and other documents. Protests against the stamp act were widespread. -
Boston Massacre
After Parliament repealed all of the Townshend duties they left the tax on tea because they wanted to show that parliament had the right to tax the colonies. Parliament was too late on March 5 1770 in Boston, an angry crowd of workers and sailors shouted and threw snowballs and rocks at the frightened soldiers fired into the crowd kill five and wounding 6 colonist. -
The Tea Act
The British parliament passed the Tea Act. It was intended to help the British East India Company. For many years the East India Company made money off of growing tea in India and selling tea to the British. But the Colonists boycott of tea hurt their company. The Tea Act let the company sail there tea right to the colonies lowering the price of tea so the colonist would buy the tea again. Some Colonist reacted angrily to the party that gave the Inda Company the monopoly in selling British tea. -
Boston Tea Party
A group of colonist called The Sons of Liberty organized in ports of the cities to stop the East India Companies tea from being brought into the colonies. The colonist threatened the ship captains and tea merchants who were bringing the tea into the colonies. when the first tea ships from Britain arrived Hutchinson ordered the tea to be unloaded. Finally, on the night of December 16 1773 a large crowd of Native Americans boarded the tea ships and threw away 342 cases of tea in the Boston harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
The Boston Tea Party outraged the British government. King George III called for tough actions against the colonist in Massachusetts. Parliament passed four laws these laws were so harsh the colonist called them the Intolerable Acts. The first law passed closed the port of Boston, the two others increased the powers of the royal government, abolished the upper house of the Massachusetts, and cut town meetings, Finally the fourth act strengthened the 1765 Quartering Act. -
First Continental Congress
First Continental Congress took place in Philadelphia in September and October 1774 12 of the 13 colonies sent delegates. Only Georiga did not. The Congress demanded the repeal of the Intolerable acts and declared that the colonist had a right to a tax and govern themselves. It also called for the training of militias to stand up to the British if necessary. The Congress also called for a new boycott of British goods Then they voted to meet again May 1775 if its demands were not met. -
First Continental Congress
First Continental Congress took place in Philadelphia in September and October 1774 12 of the 13 colonies sent delegates. Only Georiga did not. The Congress demanded the repeal of the Intolerable acts and declared that the colonist had a right to a tax and govern themselves. It also called for the training of militias to stand up to the British if necessary. The Congress also called for a new boycott of British goods Then they voted to meet again May 1775 if its demands were not met. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
Tomas Cage, he sent 700 troops to seize the arms and capture arms and some colonial leaders. Two men, Paul Revere and William Dawes, then rode through the night to warn the Minutemen that the British were coming. Five miles from Concord in the town of Lexington about 77 men were waiting for the British to arrived and told them to go home and then suddenly a shot rang out and 8 men died. A larger battle took place in Concord about 400 men killed three British men as they retreated 4000 men fired. -
The Second continental congress
Most colonists did not favor independence. At the same time, many of them were ready to use force to defend their rights against the British. Congress met again in Philadelphia. The Congress, at first, was divided about what to do. A more moderate group from the middle colonies favored a less dramatic action. but all of the delegates thought they should prepare for war. They needed to make an army and they choose George Washington as commander and they paid for the army by printing paper money. -
Battle for Fort Ticonderoga
When the green mountain boys took Fort Ticonderoga they seized several dozen cannons later used to drive the British out of Boston. The Fort was very important for two reasons. It controlled the main route between Canada and the Hudson River valley. It also held valuable weapons such as cannons to match the powerful British weapons. They took the fort by force they had 83 men as the fort was only armed with 42 men they surrendered almost immediately, -
Battles of Bunker and Breeds Hill
The American commander, Israel Putnam knew his soldiers did not have much ammunition. The Americans waited until the British were about the 150 away and then opened fire. Hundreds of British troops fell dead and wounded. The first British attack failed so did the second. The third attack succeeded only because the Americans ran out of ammunition and had to retreat. The Americans only lost 400 the british lost 1000. They fought over these hills because they were high groud in the war. -
Olive Branch Petition
Two resolutions were passed in July.The first resolution was the Olive Branch Petition and was sent to King George. The Petition said that the colonist were loyal to the king and that they wanted him to stop the fighting so all disputes between Britain and the colonies could be solved peacefully. The next day congress passed a statement called the Deceleration of the causes and Necessity. Saying that the colonist failed to make peace with the king and that they were in open rebellion. -
Invasion of Quebec
Two armies were moving north into Canada. Led by Richard Montgomery they left from Fort Ticonderoga. the other led by Benedict Arnold, they moved through Maine Arnold had a terrible journey through the Maine woods in winter. His troops were forced to boil candles, bark, and shoe leather for food. In late December the Americans attacked Quebec during a severe snowstorm. The attack was turned back. Montgomery was killed and Arnold was wounded. The Americans stayed outside of Qubec until 1776 -
The British withdrawal from Boston
Washington knew that he needed more powerful weapons to defend Boston from the British he had British cannon that had been seized in fort Ticonderoga but the problem was that the cannons had to travel over 300 miles to get to Boston. In March Washington placed the cannons on high ground around Boston and the British knew that they could not hold Boston any longer on March 17 1776 the British withdrew from Boston by sea and never came back.