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Albany Plan of Union
-Response to French attacks on the frontier
- Benjamin Franklin proposed
-plan to unite colonies -
George III becomes king of Great Britain
-Determined to firmly deal with American colonies
-To pay for war, he levied a tax on tea, sugar, glass, paper, etc. -
French and Indian War
-Struggle between French and Britain over land in West Pennsylvania and Ohio
-Great Britain won in 1763 and gained complete control over Eastern third of the continent. -
Stamp Act
-imposed first direct tax on colonies
-required them to pay a tax on legal documents, pamphlets, newspapers, and even dice/playing cards. -
Stamp Act Congress
-nine colonies sent delegates to a meeting in New York.
-first meeting organized by the colonies to protest King George's actions
-Delegates sent a petition to the king, arguing that only colonial legislatures could impose direct taxes such as the Stamp Act. -
Coercive Acts
-Passed in retaliation to the Boston Tea Party.
-Called Intolerable Acts by colonists.
-Closed Boston Harbor and withdrew the right of the Massachusetts colony to govern itself. -
Committees of Correspondence
-organizations urging resistance to the British.
-consisted of colonists who wanted to keep in touch with one another as events unfolded
-withing a few months, Massachusetts alone had 80+ committees. -
First Continental Congress
-Key colonial leaders led
-came up with the plan of placing an embargo on Britain, and agreed not to use British goods.
-They proposed meeting the following year if things didn't change. -
Boston Tea Party
-A group of colonists, dressed as Mohawk Indians, dumped 342 chests of British tea into the Boston Harbor -
Lexington and Concord
-First blow
-first battle of Revolutionary War
-British Redcoats vs colonial minutemen -
Second Continental Congress
-delegates from all thirteen colonies gathered in Philadelphia
-assumed powers of central gov.
-served as an acting gov. of the colonies throughout the war
-purchased supplies, negotiated treaties, and rallied support for the colonists. -
Resolution of Independence
-"that these United Colonies are, and of right, ought to be, free and independent states." - Richard Henry Lee
-declared independence -
Declaration of Independence
-held signatures of all 56 delegates
-explained reasons the American colonies were angry at the British government
-confirmed why revolution was justified and laid down the founding principles of the new nation
-claimed their efforts to reach a peaceful solution had failed, leaving them no choice but to declare their independence.
-recognized the changes talking place in their colonies
