Revolution Notes


1763—Proclamation Act

created a line that said the indians could have the land from appalachian to the mississippi river. colonist can have the other side.
1764—Grenville Acts (direct tax)
Sugar (molasses, wine)
Stamp
Quartering
Currency
Virtual/ Direct Representation
first set of taxes britian put on the colony. the reason there taxing is to cover the 7 year wAR DEBT

1765—Stamp Act Congress
Sons of Liberty
Samuel Adams
Paul Revere
John Hancock
Propaganda
Boycotts
Lobsters (Lobster-backs, Thomas Lobster)

FIRST TIME THE COLONIST ORGANIZED THEM SELF AGAINST BRITTIAN.
1766—Declaratory Act

TAKES BACK THE GRENEVILL ACT.AND STATES THAT BRITIAN CAN DO WHAT EVER THEY WANT TO THE COLONYS.

1767—Townsend Acts (indirect tax)
Charles Townsend
Writs of Assistance (search warrants)
Revenue used to pay Royal officials in the colonies
Tea Act (glass, paper, paint) support British East India Company
SECOND SET OF TAXES BRITIAN PUT ON THE COLONYS

1770—Boston Massacre
March 5, 1770
Local reaction (primarily)
5 dead colonists
John Adams defends British soldiers/5 exonerated-2 convicted
Convicted men discharged and thumbs branded

THIS EVENT WAS USED AS PROPAGANDA TO MAKE PEOPLE ANGER AT THE BRITISH.
1773—Boston Tea Party
November 30, 1773--Dartmouth sails into Boston Harbor
December 16, 1773--Tea dumped into harbor
340 chests of tea dumped (value of 10,000 British pounds)

MAKE BRITIAN ANGERY BECAUSE THEY LOST MONEY

1774—Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts in Britain)
Close the port of Boston
Shut down Provincial and Town Governments
All offices appointed
Named General Thomas Gage as Governor
Gave all western lands north of the Ohio R. to Quebec, allowed Catholic Church to practice

3TH ACT.NOT JUST ABOUT COLLECTING MONEY, BRITIAN WANTS TO PUNISH MAS.

1774—1st Continental Congress
September to October (7 weeks)
Carpenter’s Hall, Philadelphia
New England—John Adams, Paul Revere, Silas Deane
Virginia—Washington, Patrick Henry, Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee
Pennsylvania—John Dickenson, Joseph Galloway (Plan for American council under Parliament, to avoid war)
New York—John Jay, James Duane
Maryland—Samuel Chase (future Supreme Court Justice), Charles Carroll (richest man in Maryland, Catholic)
Declaration of Rights—rejects Parliamentary authority over internal colonial affairs, colonies manage own defense, united aid to Boston if Intolerable Acts continue, absolute boycott of British goods to be enforced rigidly
COLONY ALL AGREED TO HELP EACHOTHER IS A CRISIS.

1775— January
William Pitt urges Parliament to withdraw troops from America because the idea of managing the colonies through force was “too ridiculous to take up a moment of your lordships’ time”

WIILIAM PIT PREDICTS THE OUT COME OF THE WAR.

1775—April 19 Lexington and Concord
Gen. Gage sends 700 men to Concord to seize the powder supplies
Paul Revere and William Dawes raise alarm the night before
Town of Lexington is on the way to Concord
Minutemen are assembled on the town common
“Shot heard round the world”
18 colonials killed and the rest run away
British march on to Concord and find the munitions were moved overnight
Minutemen ambush the British the whole way back to Boston
430 Redcoats make it back to Boston
30,000 Colonists surround Boston
FIRST BATTLE OF THE REV.


1775—May
Gen. Howe, Gen. Clinton, Gen. Burgoyne
5,000 British troops
Ethan Allen, “Green Mountain Boys” seize Fort Ticonderoga
Henry Knox uses canon to lay siege on Boston
Benedict Arnold (Connecticut) takes Fort Crown Point to impede an invasion from Canada
TH WAR IS BUILDING UP.


1775—May 10, 2nd Continental Congress
Sam Adams pushes for Independence
John Dickenson (Penn.) urges restraint
Agree to form Colonial Army
Delegates unanimously agree to Washington as Commander of Continental Army (John Adams suggestion)
WE FORM A ARMY

1775—June 17, “Battle of Bunker Hill”
Actually fought on Breed’s Hill
Gen. Howe leads assault without canon support (his canon had been matched with wrong-sized cannonballs [Amherst at Ticonderoga])
Militia waited to within 30 yards (some say 15 yards)
Militia target British officers
Militia ran extremely low on ammunition
On the third assault, led by Gen. Howe, British troops overtake the colonial position
Britain losses almost 1000 men (about half the attacking force)
Colonials lose about 500 men

BUNKER HILL CONVICTS THE COLONIES CAN WIN.

1776—January, Common Sense
Written by Thomas Paine
120,000 copies sold in three months
THIS CONVICTS REGULAR PEOPLE TO FIGHT ENGLAND [PROPGANDA]

1776—March
Gen. William Howe evacuates Boston
July 2, lands in Staten Island, New York (Loyalist base)


1776—Declaration of Independence
June 7, Richard Henry Lee (Virginia) introduces legislation to declare independence from Britain
Before voting on Lee’s proposal Congress appoints five-man committee (chosen by John Adams) to draft a formal Declaration of Independence (Thomas Jefferson, 33, does most of the writing)
June 28, Declaration presented to Congress
July 2, Congress approves Lee’s legislation to declare the United States of America independent of Great Britain
July 4, Congress officially adopts the Declaration of Independence
The Declaration intended to:
Undermine loyalty to King George III
Outline basic principles of representative government
Establish the “right” of rebellion



ALL COLONIES ARE REALLY UNITED WITH BRITIAN






War


1776—August, Brooklyn Heights, New York
Largest Naval group Britain will launch until the 20th century
British victory, city falls to England
As winter came “sunshine patriots” left the American Army
Initial colonial enlistments due to expire

WASHINGTON FIRST BATTLE,ALMOST GETS KILL AND CAPTURED, DECIDES HE HAS TO SPEND MOST OF HIS TIME RUNNING.

1776—December, Battle of Trenton
Howe believes war almost won
1,400 Hessians stationed at Trenton
Colonel Rall (Hessian) builds no fortifications
Washington “Crosses the Delaware” Christmas night
2,500 men; 18 artillery guns
Surprise attack at dawn
106 Hessians killed, 918 captured
No colonial casualties
Washington retreats in secret to avoid Gen. Cornwallis counter-attack
WASHINGTON FIRST VICTORY. CAUSE HE WAS RUNNING SO MUCH HE NEEDS THIS WIN IN ORDER TO KEEP ARMY IN THE FIELD.

1777—January, Princeton
Washington ambushes British troops
Colonial victory establishes this will not be a quick war for Britain
VERY SMALL BATTLE, WASHINGTON 2ND WIN

1777—September-October, Saratoga
Gen. Burgoyne plans a three-prong attack on colonials at Albany
Plan does not consider the terrain, forcing British troops to march through swamps, lakes, hills and forests full of rebels
Two of the three “prongs” never arrive (Howe goes to Philadelphia instead, St. Leger retreats to New York afraid of Benedict Arnold)
Sept. Burgoyne crosses Hudson River
Oct. 17, Burgoyne surrenders
Establishes American Army as real threat
Helps secure open French Alliance
Turning Point of the War

1777-1778—Winter at Valley Forge
Under-funded troops
Low morale
10,000+ troops
4,000 troops listed as “unfit for duty” due to poor supplies (boots, blankets, coats, etc.)
2,500 troops die of disease (typhus, typhoid fever, dysentery, pneumonia)
George Washington mentioned a lack of shoes so severe that the men's "marches might be tracked by the blood from their feet”
Local farmers would sell produce to Brits who could pay cash
LOWEST POINT OF THE WAR, WASHINGTON DOES NOT KNOW THE FRENCH IS GOING TO HELP.AMERICAN DOES NOT QUITE-

1779—February, Vincennes
1780—August, Camden
1780—October, Kings Mountain

1781—October, Yorktown
British Gen. Cornwallis
American Gen. Washington (also “Mad” Anthony Wayne, Baron von Steuben)
French Gen. Rochambeau (also Marquis de Lafayette)
Essentially a French Naval victory
Last significant battle of the war .
BRITIAN QUIT AFTER THIS BECAUSE THEY REALIZE IS TO EXPENSIVE AND TO HARD TO WIN. { PIT WAS RIGHT }

1783—Sept. 3, Treaty of Paris
Britain recognizes American independence
America gets all land from Atlantic coast to Miss. River, Great Lakes to Florida
Fishing rights to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and off the coast of Newfoundland
America must pay debts to Britain
American congress would “earnestly recommend” all Loyalist property returned (States ignore this request)
TAKES TWO YEARS TO SETTLE BECAUSE AMERICA AND FRANCE ARGUE OVER WHAT THEY GET FROM BRITIAN