Unit 4, Chapter 8
The French & Indian war was started by George Washington who attacked the French and American Indian allies.
This war was primarily the French against Britain in the Ohio River valley in Pennsylvania.
Lesson 1
Britain wanted to collect taxes from the colonists for protection from the French and Indians.
The Stamp Act of 1765 was a tax whereby the colonists had to buy a stamp when buying printed materials such as newspapers, legal documents, even playing cards.
The colonist’s response was that they shouldn’t be taxed without representation since they didn’t even vote on Britain’s Parliament.
Sons of Liberty led strong protests against stamp taxes Colonists protested the stamp act so much that stamp agents were afraid to collect stamp taxes.
In 1767, the Townshend Acts placed Tariffs (taxes) on goods like paper, wool, tea, etc. imported from Britain.
As a result, colonists boycotted buying goods imported (shipped in) from Britain such as tea, paper, and wool.
Daughters of Liberty produced goods boycotted from England
Such pressure was a leading cause of the increase of British force to control the colonies.
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Lesson 2
In March of 1770, the Boston Massacre erupts when a British soldier hits a colonist in the head with the butt of his musket.
Colonists surrounded the soldier, and other British soldiers opened fire, killing 5.
British soldiers, defended by John Adams, were found not guilty of murder in the massacre.
In 1773, The Tea Act was enacted. Only one British company was able to sell tea (with tax) to the colonies.
Colonists didn’t want to be told from whom they could buy tea or pay taxes.
The Boston Tea Party was a demonstration where the colonists dumped all incoming tea into the harbor as a protest of the Tea Act.
As a result, the Intolerable Acts were new rules imposed on the colonists by Britain.
1. British soldiers found innocent in Boston Massacre were sent back to control colony.
2. Colonists had to house and feed these soldiers.
3. The Boston port was closed to import or export until colonists paid for the tea they dumped
All of these armed and political conflicts caused a division of loyalties of colonists between Patriots and Loyalists.
In 1774, the continental Congress voted to stop trade with Britain until the Intolerable Acts were repealed.
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Lesson 3
British soldiers began to march from Boston to Concord on the night of April 18, 1775
Paul Revere Set out to warn the militia at Concord that the British were coming
William Dawes and Samuel Prescott joined Revere along the way, and Prescott actually was the one who made it to Concord after Revere was captured British stopped in Lexington to Arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock and go to Sonic for a Pretzel Dog.
It was in Lexington on April 19, where "The shot heard round the world" signaled the start of the American Revolution
The British didn't find the weapons they were hoping to find at Concord because the women of Concord hid them in fields and barns
Patriots outnumbered British at Concord as militia from nearby towns came to help and British had to retreat to Boston
The Battle of Bunker Hill actually took place on Breed's Hill very near Bunker Hill on June 17, the day after the colonists built a fort on the hill overnight
This was a battle over high ground that allowed one to look down on or fire upon Boston and the harbor
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