Download Events of the American Revolution – causes

EVENTS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION –
CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES, AND
CHRONOLOGY
1754 – The Albany Plan of Union
When Benjamin Franklin proposed the Albany
Plan of Union in 1754, his intention was to
inspire the American Colonies to join their
English homeland in a war against the French
and Indians. Just over twenty years later, the
same political cartoon would have a
completely different meaning. In 1775,
Franklin meant to encourage the American
Colonies to band together against the English
– and the French were our allies in the effort.
1763 – The Treaty
of Paris of 1763
The Treaty of Paris of 1763 brought the
French and Indian War to a close. The
English, who had emerged victorious in the
war, would vanquish the French of all of
their territory in North America. Aside from
a couple of fishing islands near Canada and
their sugar island possession in the
Caribbean, all French presence in North
American was ousted. Unfortunately for the
English, they had also exhausted the
Treasury in the process.
1763 – The Proclamation of 1763
After the French surrendered and
abandoned all of their claims to the
continent of North America, American
colonists were overjoyed. They
believed that they would now be able
to take command of the Ohio River
Valley. This was the territory which the
war had been fought over! Since we
had won, Americans felt entitled to
settle upon and control the land. King
George III, however, feared another
war with Native Americans. The land
to the west of the Appalachians was
declared off limits!
1765 – The Stamp Act is Repealed!
Rarely has a law which never actually
went into effect had such an
overwhelming influence on history. So
many Americans protested the Stamp
Act – by legal proclamations, by
boycotts and non-importation treaties,
and by physical assaults or threats of
physical assault – that it was repealed
before a single pound ₤ was ever
collected! Nevertheless, Americans
had found a unified voice in opposition
to the British. “No taxation without
representation!” was a battle cry.
1767 – The Townshend Acts Resume…
This set of taxes on glass, lead, paint,
and other products was an internal tax
put in place by Parliament in order to
replace the failed Stamp Act. In 1766,
the Parliament had passed the socalled Declaratory Act. Even though
they were repealing the Stamp Act,
they claimed the right to tax their
American subjects whenever they
chose to do so. Americans were so
excited about their victory that they
disregarded the Declaratory Act – until
taxation resumed in 1767!
The Boston Massacre,
March 5, 1770
Well, that’s not really what happened. But, suffice
to say, there were five unarmed Americans who
died at the hands of the British on March 5, 1770.
The dead:
Crispus Attucks, African-American and Native
American shipmate.
Samuel Gray – rope-maker
James Caldwell – ship mate.
Samuel Maverick – teenager, unemployed.
Patrick Carr – leatherworker.
Christopher Monk – who died of injuries sustained
during the event several years later.
1773 – The Committees
of Correspondence
After the Gaspee Affair, during which a group of
rabble rousing Americans set fire to a British
customs ship, Thomas Jefferson proposed that
American Patriots maintain formal lines of
communication between the colonies. The result
was a sort of letter writing campaign executed by
leaders of the American Revolution in each
colony. Some would call these “committees” a
version of a shadow-government. Pro-Revolution
leaders kept in close contact in order to stay
informed of every transgression by the British
and to make plans as to how to govern the
colonies in the event of war.
December, 16, 1773 – The Boston Tea Party
During this event, which took place in December of 1773, the Sons of Liberty dressed themselves as Mohawk
Indians and tossed 342 chests of English tea into Boston Harbor – in the most orderly and polite way!
Early 1774 – The Coercive Acts
These laws were passed to punish Bostonians for the role that they had played in
the Boston Tea Party and for resisting British Rule during the 1760s and 1770s:
1.
A military Governor, Thomas Gage, was appointed to the city.
2.
Thousands of soldiers were sent to occupy the city.
3.
The Boston Harbor was completely closed to trade until all of the tea tossed
into the harbor during the Boston Tea Party was paid for.
4.
Town hall meetings were banned, and the colonial legislature was dissolved.
September 1774 – The Suffolk Resolves
The Suffolk Resolves were a series
of resolutions which condoned the
collection of arms and the training
of militias to protect American
colonists from eminent British
invasion. The so called
“Minutemen” of New England were
born of these resolutions, and
began training on the outskirts of
Boston. When the war came in
April of 1775, the men of Lexington
and Concord traced their militia’s
births to this resolution.
April 18, 1775 –
The Battles of Lexington & Concord
“The Shot Heard ‘Round the World” was
fired at Lexington Green and later
immortalized in the poem “Concord
Hymn” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. And
then there was “The Midnight Ride of
Paul Revere,” by Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow, which attributes to Paul
Revere a bit more credit than he probably
deserved for his role in the conflict.
William Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott
were also warning Americans that “The
Redcoats are A-Coming!” All three were
arrested during the course of the night.
Revere lost his horse in the process…
June 16, 1775 –
The Battle of Bunker Hill
During this battle, which took place
a full year before the Declaration of
Independence was issued, American
soldiers were ultimately defeated.
The Continental Army fought bravely
enough on Breed’s Hill (where the
battle actually took place!); however,
they ran out of ammunition, and
were forced to retreat. The British
suffered heavy casualties, but
controlled the heights of Boston by
the end of the engagement. They
would not hold the territory for long.
January, 1776 – Common Sense
Thomas Paine, a former
corset-maker who was devoted
to the cause of liberty,
published this 46-page
pamphlet at the start of 1776 in
order to convince Americans
that it was time to declare their
independence from England. It
seems difficult to believe now;
but the Battles at Lexington,
Concord, and Bunker Hill all
took place long before the
Declaration of Independence
was written. Many were still
seeking reconciliation with
England at this poing.
July 4, 1776 –
The Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson was the principle
author of the Declaration of
Independence, although both John
Adams and Ben Franklin served on the
committee assigned with writing the
document. Jefferson confirmed
Americans’ believe that “all men are
created equal, that they are endowed
by their creator with certain inalienable
rights – that among these are life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
John Hancock signed it first!
October 1777 – The Battle of Saratoga
This battle is considered the
turning point in the Revolutionary
War, largely because of the
diplomatic victory which followed.
The result of the battle was positive
enough for Americans. General
John Burgoyne’s army was slowed
by the terrain, surrounded by the
Americans, and forced to surrender
to the forces of Horatio Gates and
Benedict Arnold. After the battle,
France was inclined to sign a Treaty
of Alliance with the Americans in
1778. The War for Independence
changed immeasurably.
September 1779 –
The Defeat of the HMS Serapis
The American naval hero John Paul
Jones, commanding the Bonhomme
Richard, was able to claim this
victory over the British; it was one of
very few naval victories over the
English by Americans during the
war. Americans, after all, had no
navy to speak of, only a group of
privateers (mercenaries?). When the
French entered the war, everything
changed. Now, the Americans had
a formidable navy to help them with
their War for Independence.
October 19, 1781 –
The Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown
In this decisive victory of the
Revolutionary War, Americans under
the leadership of George Washington
cooperated with Admiral de Grasse –
the French Admiral – and
Rochambeau, a French commander
and siege specialist, to force Lord
Charles Cornwallis to surrender his
army. Although several small battles
would take place in the following
year and the British continued to
occupy several major American cities,
the Parliament defunded the war and
refused to send more troops to
America. The war was over!
The Treaty of Paris of 1783
This Treaty ended the Revolutionary
War, and granted the United States
its independence before the eyes of
all European Powers. It also
granted the United States all of the
territory east of the Mississippi
River. Americans promised to pay
their debts to England and to
restore to the Loyalists all of their
property; we had no intention of
ever restoring that property,
however. The English said they
would remove all troops from the
Ohio River Valley; they did not…
The War of 1812 would resolve
these matters later.