The American Revolution
Last Updated    1/6/2008       1/5/2008     1/3/2008      1/2/2008

England and the American colonies got along well.
The colonists became angry over English control.
This led to revolution and thr forming of a new country.

Mercantilism
A nation's strength depended on how much gold and silver it had.
Colonies provide raw materials and as a market for finished goods.
English colonies were to send scarce goods to England.
Furs, lumber, tobacco, and cotton.
The colonists could only buy English goods, carried on English ships, sailed by English sailors.
The colonists wanted to make their own goods, such as beaver hats and iron products.
Northern colonies were not able to make as much money as the southern colonies.
They began smuggling to and from the West Indies.
Triangular trade developed.
The colonists had sugar and molasses shipped in from the West Indies.
The colonists made rum and traded it for slaves.
They brought the slaves to the West Indies and traded them for sugar and molasses.

Changes in British Policy
England regulated trade, but the colonies handled local affairs.
Colonial officials were paid out of taxes.
This gave legislatures a lot of power.
In April of 1754, a force of 500 French troops and Native Americans attack Fort Prince George.
The Virginians' rude stockade, constructed of tree trunks lashed together.
They overwhelmed the small Colonial garrison without a single shot being fired.


The French built Fort Duquesne, at "the Point," at Pittsburgh.
The "Point" is where the Monongahela (Ohio) and Allegheny rivers meet
1754, George Washington surveyed the area.

Jumonville Affair
Washingtomn learned a French force was in the area.
May 28th 1754, a small group of Colonial troops fired on French soldiers.
One Englishman and ten of the French were killed and 21 were captured.
The wounded French unit commander, an ensign named Coulon de Jumonville, had been taken alive.
The Seneca chief, Half King, sunk his hatchedt into Jumonville's head.
He washed his hands in the brain tissue.
The Senecas then massacred the wounded French soldiers.
Led by Major George Washington this became known as the Jumonville Affair. 
He left behind a group of men to build Fort Necessity.
1754 July, 700-900 French and Indian soldiers attacked Fort Necessity.
They were led by Jumonville's half-brother.


Washington surrendered as rain had made all gunpowder useless.
Washington signed a French surrender document in which he admitted assasinating Jumonville.
An international scandal ensued when details of the incident were made public.


French and Indian War


Battle of the Monongahela
The killing of Jumonville and the massacre of the wounded was the opening round of the war.
The French and the Indians wanted to keep the English out of northern and western America.
Great Britain had already claimed this area.
General Edward Braddock led the first direct attack on Fort Duquesne.
The attack ended at the Battle of the Monongahela.
General Braddock was killed when they were caught in a French and Indian ambush.
Two thirds of Braddock’s 1,500-2,400 troops were killed or wounded in the devastating defeat.
1758 Novemeber 25, an army of over 6,000 British and Colonial soldiers reclaimed the Point.
Led by General John Forbes this reclaimed the Point once and for all.
Forbes built the first road over the Alleghenies.
It enabled the British and American forces to capture Fort Duquesne.
Forbes Road was a military road guarded by forts to protect it from the French and Indians.
The French burned Fort Duquesne and left the region.
1759-1761, the English built Fort Pitt.

Pontiac's War
Chief Pontiac of the Ottawa is credited with organizing as many as 18 Indian tribes.
He co-coordinated and remarkably successful attacks upon British forts in the Great Lakes area.
1763 May 27- August 9, Native American forces besieged Fort Pitt. 
They were supported by the French.
The French did not actively fight.
Only Fort Pitt, Fort Ligonier, and a handful of other outposts withstood the attacks.
Colonel Henry Bouquet led British troops in a victory over Native American forces in the Battle of Bushy Run.
This lifted the siege on Fort Pitt.
1763 February 3, Treaty of Paris signed by Great Britain, France, and Spain
In 1764, the war ended.
The British were in control of almost all of North America east of the Mississippi River.



Stamp Act
After the war, the Bristish government was in debt.
They wanted the colonies to pay their share of the war.
1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act.
It was a direct tax on newspapers, legal documents, calendars, and playing cards.
The Stamp Act hurt merchants, lawyers, and the newspaper business.
Mobs formed, tax officials were threatened, stamps were destroyed.
Colonists refused to buy British goods.
1765 October, 9 of 13 colonies met in New York to discuss the Stamp Act.
They sent a letter to the British government.
They said Parliament had no right to tax them because they were not represented in Parliament.
1766, Parliament voted to repeal the Stamp Act.

Declaratory Act
At the same time the passed the Declaratory Act.
It stated that Parliament had the right to make all laws concerning the colonies.
Parliament showed that they were not going to give in.

The Road to Revolution
Townsend Acts
1767, Parliament passed the Townsend Acts.
It passed a tax on paper, paint, glass, lead, and tea that were shipped to the colonies.
Part of the tax paid colonial officials.
This took away the colonial legislature's power.



Boston Massacre
1768, the British sent soldiers to Boston to make sure the colonists obeted the law.
1770, British soldiers fire on colonists killing five colonists.
This was called the "Boston Massacre."
Parliament then repealed the Townsend Acts except the tax on tea.


    
Boston Tea Party
1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act.
The British East India Co. could sell tea directly to the colonists.
This bypassed the colonial merchants who took a part of the profits.
Colonists dressed as Indians dumped a cargo of tea overboard.
This was called the Boston Tea Party.

Coercive Acts
1774, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts.
It closed the harbor in Boston.
The government of Massachusetts was put under military rule.
British troops were given a place to live in private homes.

Quebec Act
It extended the boundaries of Quebec west of the Appalachians and north of the Ohio River.
Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Virginia claimed this land.
The colonists called these laws the Intolerable Acts.

First Continental Congress
Colonists were determined to fight for their liberty.
1774 September 5, delegates from 12 colonies met in Philadelphia at Carpenter's Hall.
The Congress spoke out against the Coercive Acts and called for their repeal.
George Washington hoped to settle differences.
Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry wanted the colonies to be independent.

The Outcome


Battle Lexington
Revere and Dawes warn the towns that the British are coming.
Fighting started when the British went to destroy weapons at Concord.
On the night of April 18, 700 men and set out for Concord to destroy the suplies there.
They were led by Lt.Col. Francis Smith and Maj. John Pitcairn.
1775 April 19,  dawn, 77 minutemen met the British at Lexington.
The colonists are ordered to lay down there arms and disperse.
Some turn and walk away.
A shot rings out, it is the first battle of the American Revolution.
8 Americans are killed, 10 are wounded.
Only 1 British soldier is wounded.
The minutemen retreated to the woods.
The British continue on to Concord.



Battle of Concord
1775 April 19 7:30 AM, 400 milita have gathered outside of town.
The British burn some military equipment and the Liberty Pole.
The milita seening the fire moves closer to town.
The are met by British forces and shots are fired.
2 Americans are killed.
The British decide to leave.
The Americans follow hiding behind trees and walls and shoot at the British.
The Americans followed the British back to Lexington.
The British suffered horribly, sustaining 73 killed, 174 wounded and 26 missing.
The Americans listed 49 killed, 39 wounded and five as missing.




Second Continental Congress
1775 May, the Second Continental Congress met at the statehouse in Philadelphia.
12 colonies sent representatives.
Georgia did not have a delegate.
George Washington was named head of the colonial army.
The colonists tried to settle, but King George III refused to listen.


The Declaration of Independence
1776 July 4, Declaration of Independence was issued.
It was written by Thomas Jefferson.
The colonies broke away from Great Britain.
They declared themselves the United States of America.

Revolutionary War
British planned to crush the rebellion in the north.
The British almost have the Continental Army defeated.
Late 1776, American victory at Trenton.
Early 1777, American victory at Princeton, NJ.
American victory at Saratoga, NY halts British advance from Canada.
1778, France agreed to help the United States.
Britain captures Georgia and Charleston, SC.
British army defeats the American at Camden, SC.
Patriots harassed Loyalists and disrupted British supply lines.
1781, American and French forces force the British to surrender at Yorktown, Virginia.
This ended the fighting.
1783, Treaty of Paris ends the war.

A New Nation
1789, the United States adopted a constitution that set up a new form of government.
The government receives its power from the people.
The government may only use powers that are given by the people.
The Bill of Rights was added later.

Bibliography
"A History of the Point." Fort Pitt Museum. 5 Jan. 2008. http://www.fortpittmuseum.com/History.html.

"Background of the French and Indian War." u-s History.com 5 Jan. 2008. http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h608.html.

"Boston Massacre Picture." Boston Massacre Historical Societ. 5 Jan. 2008.  http://www.bostonmassacre.net/pictures/index.htm.

"Boston Tea Party." Wikipedia On Line Encyclopedia. 5 Jan. 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party.

"Colonial America: First Continental Congress 1774." u-s History.com 5 Jan. 2008. http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h650.html.

"Fort Duquense." Wikipedia On Line Encyclopedia. 5 Jan. 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Duquesne.

"Fort Duquesne/Fort Pitt." Welcome to Fort Tours. 5 Jan. 2008 http://www.forttours.com/pages/fortduquesne.asp.

Greenblatt, Miriam, and Lemmo, Peter. Human Heritage A World History. Columbus, Ohio: McGraw-Hill, 2001.

"Second Continental Congress." Wikipedia On Line Encyclopedia. 5 Jan. 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Continental_Congress.

"Stamp Act." u-s History.com 5 Jan. 2008.   http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h642.html.

"The Second Coninental Congress." Kidport. 5 Jan. 2008. http://www.kidport.com/RefLib/UsaHistory/AmericanRevolution/SecondCongress.htm.