GENERAL CURRICULUM TEST OBJECTIVE : 0006 Understand major developments in the history of the United States from precolonial times to the present.
After the French and Indian War (also called the Seven Years War), Britain's financial resources were depleted and they decided to recoup some of their losses by levying taxes on the colonists in North America. Over time various rules were passed and rebelled against such as the following:
Proclamation Act of 1763 - the first of a series of acts that the British justified as a proper method for protecting the colonial empire and making the colonies pay their fair share. The colonists saw this and later acts as a threat to their liberties and practice of representative goverment.
Sugar Act (The Revenue Act of 1764) - placed tax on foreign sugar and other luxuries, for the purpose of raising money for the British monarchy.
Quartering Act of 1765 - This act required that colonists provide food and living quarters for British soldiers stationed in the colonies.
Stamp Act (1765) - The first internal or direct tax that required that the colonists pay for revenue stamps placed on printed paper such as newspapers, legal documents, licenses, almanacs, and playing cards. The reaction to this tax included the organization of secret protest groups like the Sons of Liberty (founded by Samuel Adams) and eventually a Stamp Act Congress in 1765 where representatives of nine of the colonies came together to write a protest. A repeal came 3 months later.
Declaratory Act (1766) - After repealing The Stamp Act, the British Parliament passed this act asserting the right to tax and make laws for the colonies "in all cases whatsoever".
Townsend Acts (1767) - This act taxed lead, glass, paper, and tea (later reduced just to tea)
Tea Act (1773) - This act gave the British East India Company a monopoly on sales of tea. Colonists in Boston rebelled by participating in a symbolic act called the "Boston Tea Party" where boxes of tea were thrown into the harbor.
Coercive Acts (1774) also known to colonists as the Intolerable Acts - These acts closed the port of Boston and changed the charter of the colony (Massachusetts) to favor the loyalists and allow for quartering of British troops anywhere, as well as supressing town meetings.
The result was a meeting called the First Continental Congress (1774) in Philadelphia and the issuing of a Declaration of Rights and Grievances that vowed allegiance to the British monarchy but contested the right of the British government to tax them. It also called for the collection of troops (often called "Minutemen") to defend the colonies. Two clashes resulted, one at Lexington and one at Concord. These clashes reflected the knowledge of the British that the colonists were arming themselves and included the famous ride of Paul Revere to warn the colonist of the approaching British army.
A Second Continental Congress was held in 1775 and resulted in a declaration of the colonies in a state of defense with General George Washington appointed the head of the new Continental Army. In June 1775 the first major battle occurred at Bunker Hill. In July 1775, delegates voted to send an "Olive Branch Petition" which King George, the British monarch and the government rejected and all trade and shipping was forbidden.
In 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted to accept the Declaration of Independence.
In 1777, the Continental Army had their first major victory at Saratoga, New York. France then formally acknowledged the United States as an independent nation.
In 1777, the Articles of Confederation was introduced and adopted by the Congress to establish governing rules for the states and the document was ratified by 1781 by all 13 states.
In 1778, a treaty of friendship and alliance was signed between the U.S. and France and France entered the war.
The war ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1783. At that time, the British goverment formally acknowledged the independent United States of America ("free, sovereign, and independent states").
The young nation began to establish founding documents, one of which replaced the former Articles of Confederation with a new Constitution written in 1787. It had 12 amendments (the first 10 of them known as the Bill of Rights). and went into effect in 1789.
Resources:
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/static/neh/interactives/americanrevolution/
http://mrnussbaum.com/american-revolution//
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/road.html
http://www.nps.gov/webrangers/activities/patriot/patriotspy.swf
Please wait...