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The Albany Congress
Benjamin Franklin and council of representatives. Council would have authority over western settlements, could organize armies, have relations with Native Americans and collect taxes to pay expenses. They did this because they thought war was going to break out soon. This would unite all the 13 colonies together wit's the Iroquois. The congress approved Franklins plan and so it was set in motion. -
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The French and Indian War
French and Indians vs. British Colonists and the Iroquois. Both sides wanted control of the Ohio River Valley so they went into war. The British won the French and Indian war. This results in the French losing all their land in the Americas with the exception of all the land west of the Mississippi, which went to the Spanish, and is given to the British. Britain also received Spanish Florida. -
The Treaty of Paris
The French lost almost all of their land because of the French and Indian War. They had to surrender all of their land in the Americas and give it to the British. This resulted in the war ending and the French being defeated by the British. Though this started new problems because the British used all of the money on the war to where the government now has very little money. -
The Quartering Act
After the Sugar Act was repealed, Parliament passed the Quartering Act. The purpose of it was to save money. The act required colonists to house British Troops and provide them with food and other supplies. Once again, the colonists were enraged. Then complained that Parliament was violating their rights. The Quartering Act was repealed. -
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Pontiac's War
The leader of the Ottawa nation, Pontiac, formed an alliance of western Native Americans. Pontiac and his allies attacked the British forts. They did this to gain land back against the British. The British finally defeated Pontiac's forces in early August at a battle near Fort Pitt. Pontiac continued to fight for another year, but by the fall of 1764, the war was over. -
Proclamation of 1763
The British issued the proclamation of 1763 to avoid further wars with the Native Americans. It banned colonial settlement west of a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains. Settlers were enraged because they had just made sacrifices in family and people to win the French and Indian War and now they can't settle on their own land. Therefore, the Proclamation was widely ignored and proved impossible for the British to enforce it. -
The Sugar Act
The British started to impose new taxes on the colonies. They did this because they had lost all their money in the French and Indian war. The first tax they imposed was the Sugar Act. The Sugar Act put taxes on goods such as Molasses, when they were imported to Britain. People who did not want to pay for this tax smuggled which led to people protesting against the act. -
The Stamp Act
An even more unpopular law was the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act required that all colonists needed to buy a special tax stamp for all kinds of products such as wills, newspapers, lisences and other documents. Protests against the act was widespread. The colonists wer enraged at this new law. Patrick Henry made an emotional speech attacking the law. Colonists started to boycott and protest against the law and didn't buy British goods. The protests worked in 1766 Parliament repealed the stamp act. -
The Boston Massacre
In Boston, a group of people surrounded soldiers, throwing rocks and snowballs at them. The frightened soldiers fired into the crowd, killing 5 and wounding 6. The first to fall was Crispus Attucks, an African sailor. The governor tried to calm things down by arresting the soldiers for murder. John Adams supported the soldiers and said anybody in a free country should have the right to fair trial and a lawyer. Only 2 soldiers were convicted and got their thumbs branded as a punishment. -
The Tea Act
The Tea Act was made to help the British East India Company, one of Britain's most important tea selling companies. The company had made money growing tea in India and selling it in Britain and in the colonies. The Tea Act actually lowered the price of the tea by allowing the company to ship directly to the colonies but they had taxes. However, some colonists were still angered because it gave the company a monopoly. The monopoly hurt many colonial merchants. Many merchants smuggled in results. -
The Boston Tea Party
A group of colonists called the Sons of Liberty organized in port cities to stop the East India Company tea from being unloaded. They threatened ship captains who were bringing in the tea. However, in Boston, the Governor decided to make sure that the tea was unloaded. For more than two weeks, feelings were tense. Finally, on the night of December 16th, 1773, a group of men disguised as Native Americans boarded the ship, they then destroyed 90,000 pounds of tea, worth thousands of dollars. -
The Intolerable Acts
The Boston Tea Party enraged the government. In response to the incident, Parliament passed 4 new laws. The new laws were so harsh that the colonists called them the Intolerable Acts. 2 of the new laws increased the governments power and one closed the port of Boston. Finally, the fourth law strengthened the Quartering Act. Food and other supplies poured into Boston. The Congress demanded repeal of the Intolerable acts and declared that the colonies had a right to tax and govern themselves. -
The First Continental Congress
During the Intolerable acts the Committee of Correspondence organized a meeting to discuss what would happen next. Twelve of the thirteen colonies sent delegates. Among the delegates were John Adams and Sam Adams, John Jay, George Washington and Patrick Henry. The congress demanded repeal from the Intolerable Acts. It also called for training of militias to stand up to British Troops. They also called for a new boycott of British goods. It then voted to meet again in May if demands were not met. -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
General Thomas Gage sent 700 troops to seize arms and capture important colonial leaders. Paul Revere and William Dawes rode horses to warn the minutemen. 77 minutemen waited for the British. When the British arrived, they ordered them to go home. The British open fired killing 8 Americans. In concord 400 minutemen fought the British killing 3. As the British retreated, about 4000 Americans fired at the from behind fences and trees. By the time the British reached Boston 300 of them were killed. -
Battle for Fort Ticonderoga
Fort Ticonderoga was attacked by a daring band of colonists. Leading the force was Ethan Allen. He had a force of 83 men and got there by crossing the lake at night, surprising the British. Fort Ticonderoga was important because it controlled the main route between Canada and the Hudson River Valley. It also had a large amount of cannons. The cannons were moved to Boston, where later George Washington used them to drive away the British. -
The Second Continental Congress
After the battles of Lexington and Concord, most colonists still did not favor independence. When the crisis deepened the Second Continental Congress got together again. The congress, at first, was divided about what to do. A group from New England wanted to declare independence. This was too drastic. However, nearly all delegates felt they needed to prepare for war. They had to form an army and George Washington would be the leader. They also payed for the army by using paper money. -
The Olive Branch Petition.
Many colonists hoped that peace would be restored between Britain and it's American colonies. The congress made a petition that said that the colonists were royal and loyal to the king and Britain could be solved peacefully. King George did not even bother with reading the petition. Instead, he declared that the colonies were "in open...rebellion" Parliament sent 20,000 soldiers to end the revolt. -
The Battles of Bunker Hill and Breeds Hill
Most of the colonists surrounding Boston were farmers and workers, not soldiers. British general William Howe decided to attack Breed's Hill. Israel Putnam, (american commander), knew that the British had very little ammo. The Americans waited until they were 150 feet away the open fired. The first and second British attack failed but the third one succeeded, only because the Americans ran out of ammo. The British won but at a terrible cost, more than 1000 soldiers were wounded. -
Invasion of Quebec
While Washington was training one army, two other American armies were moving north through Canada one of them leaders being Richard Montgomery and the other Benedict Arnold. Troops were forced to boil candles, bark and shoe leather for food. The Americans attacked Quebec.The attack was turned back. Montgomery was killed and Arnold was wounded. Americans stayed outside Quebec until the British came back. Weakened by disease and hunger, the Americans withdrew, leaving Canada to the British. -
The British Withdrawal From Boston
Washington knew he had to build a regular army. He also needed powerful weapons to drive the British away. He had the British cannons which he seized from Fort Ticonderoga, he had to go on a 3 month journey by sled to get them to Boston. Washington placed the cannons on high ground looking over Boston. The British could no longer defend the city, they withdrew from Boston and never returned.