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French and Indian War
-French settled in Quebec
-Disputes with Colonists about frontier lands
-1754 George Washington was sent by VA govenor to protect Virgina Colony
-Met French 40 mile south of Ft. Duquesne
-Washington fired at French
-Defeated them and started French and Indian war
-French won at Ft Necessity
-French winning the war
-William Pitt turned things around for the British
-Battle at Louisbourg first significant British victory of war
-Attack Quebec then Montreal, British Victories
-British won the War -
Proclamation of 1763
-Established by British govt. in London
-Prohibited settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains
-Meant not to oppress the colonists, but to work out the problems with the Natives in the area, to prevent another Pontiac-like uprising
-Americans were angered by this legislation nonetheless
-Colonists did not want to be restrained
-Many still headed west, in defiance of the Proclamation -
Sugar Act
-First tax on the Colonist
-George Grenville made this act
-Led to many protests
-taxed lowered
-Grenville felt the colonist should pay their share of the cost of defending them -
Stamp Act
Video on the Stamp Act
-Raise money for new military in America
-"Stamped Paper"
-50 different items must be stamped with a seal (card, newspaper)
-Certified payment of this tax
-British also paid this tax and paid more than the colonists did -
Quartering Act
Settleres had to provide food and shelter for Bristish soldiers in the colonies -
Stamp Act Congress
-Took place in NYC
-27 delegates from 9 colonies showed up
-Stated their grievences
-Had little effect in Britain and America -
Declaratory Act
-This declared Parliament's authority over the colonists -
Townshend Act
-Light tax on imported glass, lead, paper, paint, and TEA
-British would use this money to pay for the royal salaries in America (royal govenors and court justice)
-Colonists began to smuggle
-Colonist were very mad -
British troops occupy Boston
-Two regiments of British troops landed in Boston
-Massachussetts was unruly
-Many began smuggling
-Troops were sent over to control the colonists -
Boston Massacre
-10 redcoats vs. 60 colonists
-The colonists taunted the redcoats, threw snowballs and rocks at them, hit them with clubs, and verbally attacked them
-Troops provoked to open fire
-Troops fired on Colonists
-11 "innocent" victims- 5 killed and 6 wounded
-John Adams defended soldiers in trial and they were founded not guilty -
Townshend Act repealed
-British repealed the Act except for on Tea
-Colonist found this most offensive -
Boston Tea Party
-Colonists disguised as Indians
-Threw 342 chests of tea off the boat it was on and into the Boston Harbor
-Parliament ANGRY -
Intolerable Acts
-Called this by the colonies
-A series of Acts by the British government
-One act was the Boston Port Act
-Closed the port of Boston
-Massachussets charter taken away
-Restrictions put on town meetings
-British officials' trials would be sent back to England -
Quebec Act
-60,000 French subjects were under British rule in America
-They were given religous freedon
-Allowed the keep their traditional customs (no trial by jury or representative assmebly)
-Boundary extended down Ohio River
-Angered Americans
-Colonists were already settled in that region -
First Continental Congress
-Help in Philadelphia
-12/13 colonies showed up- Georga did not attend
-55 delegates
-Met for 7 weeks
-Were not calling for independence- Most wanted to reconcile
-John Adams- eloquent speaker
-He swayed many toward revolutionary cause
-Wrote appeals to the King, the Colonists, and to the British people
-The association- a complete boycott of British goods
-Would meet again in May, 1775 if necessary -
Battle of Lexington
-British commander in Boston sent a detachment of troops to Lexington
-They were sent to seize the gunpowder that was stored there
-"Minutemen" local milita didn't disperse rapidly
-Short battle
-8 Colonists were killed and others were injured
-British troops obtained the gun powder -
Battle of Concord
-After the Battle of Lexington, the British Troops marched on to Concord
-For this battle the American Troops were ready
-70 "Redcoats" killed
-230 British injured
-British were forced to retreat
-Colonists won -
Second Continental Congress
Second Continental Congress
-Met a month after the Battle of Lexington and Concord
-Philadelphia
-All 13 colonies attended
-Not asking for independence
-Congress drafted new appeals to the British ppl and King- appeals that were rejected
-Delegates also adopted measures to raise money & to create an army and navy
-Washington chosen as military leader
-Britain and America were on the brink of warfare -
Battle of Bunker Hill
-One of the most important colonial victories; moral victories
-Originally called Breed's Hill
-Sharpshooting Americans numbering fifteen hundred mowed down the advancing redcoats with frightful slaughter
-Colonists forced to abandon after they ran out of ammo.
-Continental Congress adopted the "Olive Branch Petition" professing American loyalty to the crown and begging the King to prevent further hostilities
-In August 1775, King George III formally proclaimed the colonies in rebellion -
Thomas Paine's Common Sense
-Common Sense was published
-This was one of the most influential pamplets ever written
-The author was the radical patriot Thomas Paine
-His track became a whirlwind best-seller & within a few months reached the astonishing total of 120,000 copies
-Presented the colonists with a powerful argument for independence from British rule
-Small nation shouldn't control a larger nation
-Republic
-Paine structured Common Sense like a sermon & relied on Biblical references to make his case to the people
