French Areas – Quebec, St. Lawrence River Valley, Great Lakes, Mississippi River Interested in fur trading not colonies Better relationship with the Indians English colonies want to expand and farm ( soil depletion ) Indians resist the English expansion and ally with the French

 Old Rivalry – Multiple wars fought between French and English in past centuries  1754 – conflict ignites again as French building forts near the Virginia border  Virginia Gov’t sends George Washington to fight against the French)

 The French easily defeat Washington and his militia  Victory will eventually be won by the English  Treaty of Paris, 1763 – France loses almost all lands in North America (Louisiana)

 Indians in the Ohio Valley revolt against the British forts  Conflict become costly for Britain  Proclamation of 1764 – States that no colonist could cross the Appalachian Mtns.  Colonist ignore the law and continue to provoke the Indians

 British are heavily in debt b/c of the war and keeping a British Army in America  Trading restrictions are passed to levy duties ( collect taxes ), smugglers avoid taxes  Sugar Act – affected merchants and traders; protests began against “taxation without representation”, James Otis

 Parliament Passes the Stamp Act – Places a direct tax on the colonist SAS Interactivity  required stamp on all legal documents, newspapers, licenses, cards  taxed the rich and the poor  Quartering Act, 1765 – placed military in the homes of the colonist

 Sons of Liberty – group of colonist that secretly harassed and led protests; Boston – Sam Adams and John Adams  No taxation without representation  Stamp Agents – bill collectors were harassed  Law Repealed

 Townshend Acts  new tax placed on imports such as tea, glass, paper, and paint  Colonists again reacted with protests  British reacted by sending more troops

 March 1770 – British soldiers are being harassed by Boston townsfolk  British Guns – British fire on the crowd, 5 die, Crispus Attucks is the first to fall  John Adams – represents the soldiers in court, most are found not guilty

 Taxes on Tea – lowered the tax but it was enforced  Monopoly on tea given to British Tea Companies  Dec – Colonist raided Boston harbor dressed as Indians and threw the British tea into the harbor before setting the British ships on fire

 Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts) – laws passed as a reaction to the Tea Party  Punishments –  Closed the Boston Harbor until tea was repaid  Suspended basic civil rights – writ of habeas corpus  Placed more soldiers in the homes  Colonial Reaction – Began the Committees of Correspondence, which spread the word through the colonies, colonial militias form

 1 st Continental Congress SAS Interactivity  1774 – 1 st meeting in Philadelphia to discuss the rights of the colonies, Dickenson of Penn wants peace; agree to meet again in one year

 April 1775 – British try to seize weapons stored in Concord  Riders – Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott ride to warn colonist (Redcoats are coming)  Conflict – minutemen met British on the road at Lexington  Guerilla Warfare – colonial militia battle the British along the road to Concord

 May 1775 – Called for an army and appointed Washington as leader  Doves – some call for Peace (Dickenson of Penn)

 At the Second Continental Congress, some delegates wanted independence. Others still felt loyal to Britain.  Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense swayed public opinion toward independence. Finally, the Second Continental Congress agreed.

 June 1775 – Colonist establish a position on Breeds Hill overlooking Boston  Ammo – British charge the hill 3 times, deadliest battle of the war, Colonial retreat due to lack of ammo

 July 1775 – 2 nd Continental Congress sends King George a petition to return to the peace of the past  King George – refuses the petition and urges the rebellion be put down in the most severe fashion

 Loyalist – people still loyal to the King and crown  Patriots – people in support of Independence  Common Sense – written by Thomas Paine in Jan urging independence for the colonies

 June of 1776 – Congress was debating Independence  Richard Henry Lee – Proposes a formal declaration be written  Committee appointed to work on the document (Adams, Jefferson, Franklin)  Purpose of the Document  Think pair share 25 sec

 Explain – to give the reasons for independence  Thomas Jefferson – writes most of the document with Congress editing the final version  July 4, 1776 – The document is finalized and issued

 The Declaration said that the purpose of government is to protect the rights of the people.  Government is based on consent of the people. If it disregards their rights or their will, the people are entitled to change or overthrow it.  The Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration on July 4, 1776.

 Jefferson – took many ideas from the Enlightened Thinkers  John Locke – Natural Rights and the Social Contract  Rousseau – all men are created equal  Enlightenment Philosophers Sas Interactivity

 Reasons for the declaration – listed specific grievances against the King and Parliament; does not describe any particular form of gov’t for the new nation  List of possible reasons w/shoulder partner  Look in book p. compare and see how close you were

 Loyalists – those who remained loyal to the King, often called Tories

 Patriots – those who supported the move for independence; risked everything because they could be hanged as traitors

 British Early – British capture all of the major colonial cities – New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Charleston  Washington’s Retreat – Washington’s army began the retreat after the defeat of New York

 Undecided – as many as a third of the colonists were undecided as to whether independence or remaining as part of England was best for them  Now choose sides and create a propaganda poster to bolster support for either the Tories or Patriots

 British Early Strategy – To cut the head off of the snake, divide the New England colonies (troublemakers) from the others  Map of British strategy

 ROE  Usually they would meet in a field (open ground)  March in formation (30-60yrds)  Fired volley on command reload. Brown Bess v. American Rifle  Field Artillery  Guerilla tactics (minutemen)

 Not many – just enough to keep the hope alive  Dec 1776 – Trenton; British are upset at the tactics of the Rebels.  Jan 1777 – Princeton; again not playing by the rules  Revolutionary war battle!!!!!!!!!

 The Battle of Saratoga – Large British force is defeated at Saratoga in Oct 1777; gave France and the rest of Europe reason to support the war in America

 Campsite – Washington’s army spent the winter of ‘77-’78  British forces occupied nearby cities  Starvation – many of the American soldiers died of cold and starvation

 Congress – struggled to gain supplies for the forces; lack of gov’t  Think pair share: How might these problems influence the formation of future gov

 Inflation – prices soared in the colonies and shortages occurred  Women – took over the main jobs of men who were at war

 France – Marquis de Lafayette led a volunteer army from France  Prussia – Friedrich von Steuben trained patriot soldiers  Casmir Pulaski – led and trained American soldiers

 Southern Strategy – the British tried to divide the southern colonies  Charleston – Captured by Cornwallis  Kings Mountain – Won by the Patriots; kept the British out of North Carolina  Cowpens – Patriot victory

 Battle of Guilford Courthouse – costly British victory, signaled the retreat of Cornwallis  Yorktown – Cornwallis is surrounded by America and its allies

 French – French navy controls the coast line and won’t allow Cornwallis to escape by sea  Washington – drives hard from the northwest  Green – driving up out of the southwest

 Treaty of Paris, 1783 – recognized US independence  set boundaries between Canada and the US, set boundaries to the Mississippi  Will not resolve issues that will re-surface

 Liberty, Freedom, Equality, Opportunity  Belief in a greater cause  Set a precedent for the American future