Road to Revolution Historical Timeline

French and Indian war

The french and Indian war began as a tension between Britain and France on May 28th, 1754. This was due to a skirmish between George Washington and France wanting to lay claim to the Ohio river valley. The official declaration of war didn't happen until 1756. The French and Indian war also called the Seven years war was long and grueling for not only the British and French but also Indian allies with these forces. By the 60s both sides were tired of fighting, king George III wanted peace so both Britain and France signed the treaty of Paris in 1763.

The result of this war was both sides being in debt although Britain emerged the biggest winner as France left the Americas, with Britain being in debt this would affect the colonies negatively.

Albany plan of Union

The Albany Plan of Union started on July 10th, 1754. The colonies each sent a commissioner to meet in Albany New york to discuss defense treaties as well as the general defense of the colonies. Benjamin Franklin one of the commissioners wanted one general government that included all the colonies. The idea of the plan was that each colony would keep its own government but the united colonies would be led by a council of representatives and a presidential general appointed by the crown. This idea was rejected by the colonies for fear that one would have too much power over another.

This fear between the colonists continues into the future as well as Britians raise in taxation driving the colonists further from the crown.

The Proclamation line occurred on October 7th 1763, in which it separated the Indian tribes and the colonists by the Appalachian mountains. The colonists saw it as a betrayal of their rights. The Paxton boys were a group of colonists that went on a rampage killing indians and burning towns in outrage of the proclamation line. Many colonists began seeing the Indians as one tribe and a complete enemy.

The Proclamation line resulted in higher tensions between the colonists and the British crown. As well as worsening the relationship between the colonies and the native Indians.

Proclamation of 1763

The sugar act was put in affect on April 5th, 1764. It put taxes on things such as rum and molasses which affected merchants and traders more significantly.

The sugar act was one of many stirs of tension between the colonists and Britain. The colonists began to buy rum and molasses from other places instead of Britain.

Sugar Act

Quartering act of 1765

The Quartering act was the allow-

ment of British soldiers to stay in a colonists house without their agreement. The soldiers could take as they pleased as well as stay wherever they like and the colonists had no say in the matter. Similar to the stamp and sugar acts, parliament repealed the quartering act because the costs outweighed the benefits.

This affected the relationship between the colonists and the crown largely because of the enlightenment ideas. The idea that everyone had natural rights not determined by the crown, made the colonists further angered by the soldiers coming in and taking what was rightfully theirs.

The Stamp act required all legal and commercial documents which included magazines, newspapers, and playing cards. This meant all of these needed to be printed on special paper showing an official stamp. Payment for these special papers needed to be in british currency.

This didn't affect all the colonists but it inspired fear across all thirteen colonies. This fear led to action such as boycotts and buying from other traders.

Stamp Act

The Stamp Act congress was a meeting in New York city, each of the colonies sent a representative. The purpose of this congress was to sort out the grievances of the colonists including the Stamp and Sugar acts. The congress was given a petition saying that parliament had no right to tax the colonists.

This was the biggest start to the unionizing of the colonies.

Stamp Act Congress

The stamp act was repealed in May of 1766 which ensued the colonists to celebrate. But the British did not stop there. Parliament passed the declaratory act which allowed parliament to tax the colonists under any circumstance. Along with the declaratory act Britain passed the revenue act which restricted the trade of sugar. This made it harder for the colonists to trade as well as made them more angry of the treatment from the crown.

Repeal of the Stamp Act

Declaratory Act

The Declaratory act was passed on March 18, 1776 the same day the stamp act was repealed. The Declaratory act was passed as a way for parliament to tax the colonists with no restriction. Parliament assured the colonists would have representation but this was not true. The Declaratory act inspired the saying, Taxation without representation.

This act further affected the colonists negatively with more taxes and no representation against these taxes. More riots, boycotts, and resistance came as well as colonists belief that the crown was disregarding their natural rights.

Townshend Act

The Townshend act also know as the Revenue act of 1767 was a way for Britain to not only continue to pay off their war debt but also to assert parliaments authority over the colonists. Not only did parliament want more authority over the colonists but it also wanted to stop the riots as well as the smuggling of goods. The Townshend act put taxes on lead, paint, paper, and tea. More soldiers arrived in the colonies as a show of force and power. This would cause exceeding tension namely in Boston, the soldiers were also allowed to work part time which meant they created more competition for jobs with excepting lower wages. This tension would rise to cause the Boston massacre.

The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5th, 1770. The rise in soldiers due to the Townshend act, created much tension as well as the job competition with the soldiers working part time. The Boston massacre started as taunting of the british soldiers by throwing snowballs. The crowd grew and more soldiers arrived. An object was thrown that knocked down a soldier and gun fire started. Three people were killed one by the name of Crispus Attucks, a former slave and two others that died from wounds. The royal governor removed the troops from Boston as the population grew to be anti-british. The soldiers involved in the massacre were sent to trial and were not found guilty with anything. Sam Adams created a committee of correspondence to encourage resistance in the other colonies.

Boston Massacre

Boston Tea Party

The Boston tea party took place on December 16th, 1773. Before hand Britain removed the taxes of the townshend act but kept in place the tea tax. This showed that parliament could change taxes as they so wished but it also was an attempt to protect the bankrupt British east India company which was struggling with colonists making and buying tea elsewhere to avoid the tax. This made so the company could ship large quantities of tea without paying the required tax at a discounted rate to the colonists. But the colonists still refused to pay for the taxed tea. This led to the sons of liberty dressing as Indians followed with acted hollering, to dump the tea into the Boston harbor. This revolt led the crown to shut down the Boston trade ports sending the colony into a financial crises. Around this time women also became involved in boycotting british goods and riots. The closing of the Boston trade inspired fear into the other colonies, this showed the British were not afraid to cause unrest and financial crisis among the colonists if they did not get the money they wanted.

The Intolerable Acts occurred on June 2nd, 1774. These acts followed the Boston tea party and the uprising revolts by the colonists. The first act that was passed was the closing of the Boston ports which cause an economic crisis within this colony. The second act passed was the Administration of Justice act which allowed another colony or Britain itself to hold trials for charged officials that had crime growing out of their enforcement or suppression of riots. The third act was the Massachusetts government act, which abolished the popular elected upper council of the colony as well as allowed 12 of the 36 members to be replaced by the kings choosing. The fourth act was the quartering act. The fifth act was the Quebec act which cleared the claims other colonies had made on the land west of the Appalachian mountains.

This was an insult to the Boston colony because it uprooted their systems as well as put the colony into an economic crisis, not to mention the problem of having no representation in parliament to argue against these acts. Not only did the intolerable acts affect Boston but it also inspired fear among the other colonies because it showed the power of the crown as well as the disregard for the colonists well being.

Intolerable Acts

Quebec Act

The Quebec act was passed on June 2nd, 1774. Although this act was passed during the time of the Intolerable act it was not a specific punishment for the colonists by the British crown, but the colonists were still unsettled by this act for good reason. The Quebec act extended the control of Quebec into the northern area of the Ohio river. It also appointed the area a royal governor and appointed council. With the extension of power into this land it also eradicated the land claims of Virginia and other colonies which angered the colonists. It also recognized the legal rights of the Catholic church which offended the protestant colonists. By the British extending power into south of the Ohio river it was as though the crown valued the french population instead of the actual colonists. This did not sit well with the colonists because they considered themselves citizens of the crown rather than a resource.

First Continental Congress

The first continental congress took place on September 5th, 1774. Each colony aside from Georgia who was preoccupied fighting the creek indians and needed Britans support, sent delegates to Philadelphia to discuss the taxation and treatment of the colonists. Many of the delegates that attended agreed that parliament had no right to tax the colonists without their permission and few were ready to separate from the crown. The colonists declared there rights were based off the laws of nature, British constitution, and the colonial charters. They also issued a ban on British imports as well as the consumption of tea from the East India trading company.

This is one of the most crucial moments for the colonists because it was the first true assembly.

The battle of Lexington and Concord was the start of the revolutionary war. Before the battle itself, suspicions of both the rebels and the british soldiers was high, both sides were carefully watching each other. The battle of Lexington and concord occurred on April 19th, 1775. The colonial militias had taken the arms stored in concord and a general by the name of Thomas Gage was aware and wanted to take the colonists by surprise. Paul revere was in charge of alerting the militia if the british troops were on the move, this begins the famous ride of Paul Revere and William Dawes as they alerted to the movement of the British soldiers. By the time the British reached Lexington the colonial militia were ready and the first battle of the revolution began. Only one British soldier was wounded while eight militia men were killed and another ten were wounded. The British went on to Concord finding little arms and went to return to Boston. The militia men were waiting for the soldiers on the road to Boston, in the end the militia men killed 273 soldiers while losing 95 of their own. So began the revolutionary war. These battles were less about who won but more about the colonists fighting back against the British despite no training and little supplies as well as an efficient army.

Battle of Lexington and Concord

The Treaty of Paris was finally signed September 3rd, 1783. The treaty ended the war between the british and United states although neither was a confirmed win it was clear America had the most favorable outcome after the surrender of Cornwallis in Yorktown. The British ended up making separate treaties with Spain and France. The British troops still occupied New York city, Charleston, Savanna and other parts of the country side. Both sides continued to negotiate boundaries, fishing rights, and legal claims. With the signing of the treaty the Americans had their new found Independence and freedom from the British monarchy.

Treaty of Paris

What caused the Revolutionary War???

What caused the Revolutionary War

Over the years the colonists spent under the British crown they suffered through taxation's and no representation in parliament. Overall the cause of the Revolutionary war was the lack of rights given by the British as well as fear across the colonies. The fear that spread throughout the colonies was brought through the closing of the Boston ports after the massacre and Tea Party. This helped spur the other colonies into action for fear of what parliament would in act, not to mention after the closing of the Boston ports, Boston went into economic crisis. After the Declaratory act the colonists lost the chance to be represented in parliament and for the taxation to be stop politically. After the stamp act was repealed through the stamp act congress parliament enacted the declaratory act making it clear to the colonists that parliament saw them as a resource to pay off their debt rather than British citizens. The Revolutionary war and the colonists becoming Americans was a battle of natural rights and the fear of losing those rights.