KING GEORGE III

• George III became King of Great Britain in 1760 during the Seven Years' War

• He saw the loss of the American colonies in the War of Independence

• George III took the throne at the age of 22.• His abilities were limited and he was poorly

suited for the rigorous demands of being the king.

• It is believed that he suffered from a hereditary disease which would cause long periods of insanity which lasted until his death in 1820.

FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS

• May 18, 1756, the British declare war on the French• Was the source of much resentment and controversy

between England and the American colonists.• England's debt was greatly enlarged by the war.• England set plans in motion to gain more control over

the American colonists.

PROCLAMATION OF 1763

• Provided an end to the French and Indian War in 1763.• The Proclamation closed off the western frontier for colonial expansion.• The Proclamation was presented by the King and his council as a measure to calm

the fears of the Indians.• The colonists felt a strong sense of resentment. They felt as though they were

trapped and they thought they could be controlled more easily and regulated by England.

• The Proclamation provided that all of the lands west of the heads of all rivers which flowed into the Atlantic Ocean from the west or northwest were off-limits to the American colonists.

• This meant that the rich Ohio Valley and all territory from the Ohio to the Mississippi Rivers from settlement.

THE STAMP ACT• Passed on March 22, 1765• This act would grant and apply stamp duties both in the British colonies and

plantation of America.• These duties were to help compensate for the expenses that were incurred by

defending, protecting and securing the colonists.• This Act required that the colonists had to purchase printed documents such as:

– Deeds– Legal Documents– Marriage License (Licenses in general)– Newspapers– Bills– Almanacs– Pamphlets– Dice and Playing Cards

• These items would be issued on specially stamped paper that had to be purchased from stamp distributors.

• The colonist were outraged by the imposition of this tax. • Colonists reactions were on occasion riotous. This was seen in a popular tactic

used by the colonists in which they would threaten or attack the court appointed stamp commissioners (collectors).

• Many were also threatened to be tarred and feathered, but none of the collectors were ever harmed in this way.

• By November 1, 1765, the day the Stamp Act was to go into effect, there were no stamp commissioners left in the colonies.

SUGAR ACT

• Passed by Parliament in 1764.• To be used to offset the war debt brought on by the French and Indian War.• Also would be used for expenses of running the new colonies.• The Sugar Act would increase duties on the following items:

– Imported Sugar– Coffee– Wines– Textiles– Indigo (Dye)

• It also doubled duties on foreign goods.• It also forbid the import of foreign rum and French wines.

CURRENCY ACT

• In 1764, the Currency Act prohibited the colonists from issuing any legal tender paper money.

• This Act unified the industrial North with the agricultural South once again.

• The Currency Act threatened to destabilize the colonial economy.

QUARTERING ACT

• In May 1765, the Quartering Act went into effect.

• This Act required that the colonists had to house British troops and supply them with food.

SONS OF LIBERTY

• Formed in July 1765.• Underground organization formed by a number of

colonial towns in opposition to the Stamp Act.• Violence and intimidation was used by its members

to force the British stamp agents to resign and stop American merchants from ordering British goods.

STAMP ACT CONGRESS

• Covens in New York City in October 1765.• Congress prepares resolution to be sent to King George III

and Parliament.• Petition requests repeal of the Stamp Act and Acts of 1764.• The Petition asserted that only colonial legislation could tax

colonial residents and taxation without representation was a violation of the colonists basic civil rights.

STAMP ACT - REPEALED

• March 18, 1766, the Stamp Act is repealed.

DECLATORY ACT

• March 18, 1776, Parliament passes the Declaratory Act.

• This Act stated that British government had power to legislate laws governing the colonies.

TOWNSHEND REVENUE ACTS

• June 1767, Parliament passes the Townshend Revenue Acts.• Imposition of a new series of taxes or the colonists to offset costs of

administering and protecting the American colonies.• Taxed items included:

– Paper– Glass– Paints– Tea– Lead

THE BOSTON MASSACRE

• Occurred on March 5, 1770.• Mob harassed soldiers.• Soldiers fired muskets point blank into the crowd.

– (3) were killed instantly– (2) mortally wounded– (6) injured

• Captain Thomas Preston was arrested along with eight (8) of his men.

TOWNSHEND ACTS - REPEALED

• Repealed in April 1770.• Duties on imports were eliminated on everything

except for tea.

THE TEA ACT

• Went into effect on May 10, 1773.• A 3 penny per pound import tax on tax was

imposed.• British East India Company had a tea monopoly

and were underselling American merchants.

THE BOSTON TEA PARTY

• Occurred on December 16, 1773.• Colonial activists dresses as Mohawk Indians and

boarded the ships docked in Boston Harbor.• All 342 tea containers were dumped into the Boston

Harbor.

COERCIVE ACTS (INTOLERABLE ACTS)

• March 1774, Parliament passes the Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts).

• The Coercive Acts were in response to the Boston Tea Party.• The Boston Port Bill closed all commercial shipping in the Boston

Harbor until Massachusetts agreed to pay taxes on the tea that was dumped into Boston Harbor.

• The Coercive Act also required reimbursement to the East India Company for the loss of the tea.

FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

• Met in Philadelphia from September 5, 1774, until October 26, 1774.

• All colonies were represented at the First Continental Congress but Georgia.

CONFLICT ARISES

• April 14, 1775, England secretly orders Massachusetts Governor Gage to enforce the Coercive Acts and suppress rebellion among the colonists.

• April 18, 1775, General Gage orders British soldiers to go to Concord and destroy the weapons depot of the colonists.

• Paul Revere and William Dawes are sent to warn the colonists.

AMERICAN REVOLUTION

• Early on the morning of April 19, 1775, an unordered "shot heard around the world" begins the American Revolution.

• The British destroy the colonists weapons and supplies in Concord.

• Militiamen attack a British platoon at North Bridge in Concord.• British forces retreat from Lexington back to Boston.• May 10, 1775, Ethen Allen and Benedict Arnold capture Fort

Ticonderoga in New York with American forces.

• May 10, 1775, The Second Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia.• June 15, 1775, George Washington is appointed general and commander-in-chief of the

Constitutional Army.• June 17, 1775, Battle of Bunkerhill in Boston.

– This was the first major fight between British and American troops.– American troops are dug in along the high ground of Bunker Hill.– American troops are attacked by a frontal assault.– Americans are ordered not to fire until they see "the whites of their eyes".– British succeed at taking the hill.

• July 3, 1775, George Washington takes command of the Continental Army.

• December 22, 1775, King George issues a proclamation which closes commerce and trade to all American colonies beginning in March 1776.

• January 9, 1776, Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" was published.– 50 page pamphlet– It was very critical of King George III– Attacks allegiance to the monarchy– Argues for American Independence

• April 6, 1776, the Continental Congress opens colonial shipping ports to all but the British.

• May 10, 1776, Continental Congress authorizes the 13 colonies to form local government.

• June 11, 1776, Congress appoints a committee to draft a declaration of independence.

• Members of this committee included:– Thomas Jefferson– Benjamin Franklin– John Adams– Roger Livingston – Roger Sherman

• Thomas Jefferson is chosen by the committee to prepare the first draft.

• June 28, 1776, Jefferson's draft is presented to Congress, with changes made by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin.

• July 4, 1776, Congress formally endorses the Declaration of Independence.

• December 25th and 26th, 1776, George Washington takes 2400 troops across the Delaware River.

• Washington organizes a surprise raid on British - Hessians in Trenton, New Jersey.

• Hessians surrender and Washington re-occupies Trenton.• June 14, 1777, Congress mandates a flag for the United States consisting of

13 stars and 13 red and white stripes.• July 27, 1777, Marquis de Lafayette is appointed as general by the Continental

Congress.

• August 1, 1777, Americans first major victory of the Revolutionary War is won at the Battle of Saratoga.– General Horatio Gates and General Benedict Arnold

defeat General Burgoyne.• October 17, 1777, General Burgoyne and his army

surrender to the Americans led by General Gates.• December 17, 1777, the Continental Army led by

Washington set up winter quarters at Valley Forge.

• July 3, 1778, American settlers in the Wyoming Valley of northern Pennsylvania are massacred by British loyalists and Indians.

• December 29, 1778, British capture Savannah and a month later they capture Augusta.

• From April 1st to 30th, 1779, American troops attack Chickamauga Indian Villages in retaliation of the Indian attacks on the colonial settlements.

• May 10, 1779, British troops burn Portsmouth and Norfolk, Virginia.

• August 14, 1779, a peace plan is approved by Congress. Stipulations include:– Independence– Complete British evacuation from America– Free navigation on the Mississippi.

• October 17, 1779, Washington sets up quarters at Morristown, New Jersey.– Troops suffer another harsh winter.– Troops suffer from low morale, desertions are high and there

are many mutiny attempts.

• December 26, 1779, British sail from New York and head toward Charleston, South Carolina.

• April 8, 1780, the British attack Charleston.• May 6, 1780, the British capture Fort Moultrie in

Charleston.• May 12, 1780, America suffers the worst defeat of the

Revolutionary War when the British capture Charleston.

• June 23, 1780, American forces defeat the British in the Battle of Springfield.

• September 28, 1781, General Washington begins siege against Yorktown.

• October 17, 1781, as Yorktown is about to be taken, the British send out a flag of truce.

– Washington and Cornwallis workout the terms of surrender.

• October 19, 1781, the British march out in formation and surrenders Yorktown to Washington.

– British hopes for a victory against America are gone.

• January 1, 1782, Loyalists leave America.• March 20, 1782, British Prime Minister,

Lord North resigns.– Lord Rockingham will succeed him.

• June 11, 1782, the British evacuate Savannah.

• November 10, 1782, the final battle of the Revolutionary War occurs.– Americans retaliate against loyalists

and Indian forces.

• November 30, 1782, preliminary peace treaty is signed in Paris.• February 4, 1783, England declares an end to hostilities in

America.• April 11, 1783, the Treaty of Paris is signed by the United States

and Britain.• November 2, 1783, Washington delivers his farewell address to

his army.• January 14, 1784, the Treaty of Paris is ratified by Congress.

The Revolutionary War officially ends.

• August 31, 1786, Ex-Revolutionary War Captain Daniel Shay's (now a bankrupt farmer), leads an armed mob to the Northhampton Courthouse in order to prevent the court from holding session. They mobbed the courthouse so that debtors would not be tried and put in prison.

• September 26, 1786, Shay's rebels, fearing being tried for treason, forced the Massachusetts Supreme Court to adjourn.

• January 26, 1787, Shay's rebels attack a federal arsenal and is unsuccessful.

• February 4, 1787, Shay's rebels are attacked by General Lincoln's troops.– 150 rebels are captured– Shay flees north to Vermont

• June 19, 1787, delegates at the Constitutional Convention vote to create a new form of national government which will be separated into the following 3 branches:– Legislative– Executive– Judicial

• July 13, 1787, the Northwest Ordinance is enacted by Congress.– These are the formal procedures for transforming territories into states.– Includes a Bill of Rights that guarantees freedom of religion, right to trial

by jury, public education and a ban on slavery in the Northwest.

• September 17, 1787, 39 delegates vote to approve and sign the final draft of the new Constitution.– Legislative - will consist of two (2) houses:

the upper house (Senate) which will be selected by the state assemblies and they will serve six (6) year terms;

– Executive - is headed by the President and elected every four (4) years by president; electors from the states;

– Judicial - consists of a Supreme Court headed by a Chief Justice. The court has implied powers to review laws that conflict with the Constitution.

• September 25, 1789, Congress submits twelve (12) proposed Constitutional Amendments. Only ten (10) will be ratified and added to the Constitution as the Bill of Rights in 1791.