Battle of Bunker Hill
- First major battle of the American Revolution (Charlestown)
- After the Battles of Lexington and Concord, 15,000 troops met up in Boston to fight the British army there
- The British wanted to save ammunition, so they were ordered "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!"
- Patriots fired, British retreated, then the British came and when the Patriots were out of ammo, they were engaged in hand-to-hand combat
- Americans retreated (they were outnumbered)
Important people: General William Howe (British), Colonel William Prescott (American)
Result: 800 British troops injured, 200 killed. 300 Americans injured, 100 killed.
Intolerable Acts
- Parliament was enraged when the colonists dumped all the tea into the harbor, so they passed these acts
- Boston was CLOSED for trading until the money for all the tea was paid off-- only allowing food and firewood in the port
- Town meetings were banned
- The royal governor's authority increased
- General Gage (British commander of troops) was made the governor
KEY PEOPLE: General Gage, people in Boston colonies
Result: The colonists were angry about this because they couldn't trade with anyone, only getting food and wood
Battle of Lexington and Concord
- When the British learned that the minutemen (a group of fighters in the militia who could be ready in a minute) were storing weapons in Concord, they went there to capture militia leaders
- Paul Revere and William Dawes rode ahead to warn the minutemen
- By the time the British arrived in Lexington, they were faced off by the minutemen
- One of the groups shot first (probably the minutemen) and that is referred to as the "Shot Heard Around the World"
KEY PEOPLE: Paul Revere, William Dawes, minutemen
Result: The colonists proved to the British that they were not just a band that's unorganized and it's actually powerful
Quartering Act
- This was among the Intolerable Acts
- So that the British soldiers had a place to stay in the colonies, the colonies had to house soldiers in barracks
- If there wasn't enough room, they had to let soldiers live in inns, stables, houses, etc.
- Result: The New York colony disliked being required to give the British troops places to live
KEY PEOPLE: Parliament, British soldiers, colony of New York
Boston Tea Party
- December 16, 1763
- Angered by the Tea Act, a large group of people went on a ship disguised as Native Americans
- They dumped 342 cases of British tea into the harbor. This was about 92,000 pounds of tea and hurt the British economy
KEY PEOPLE: Sons of Liberty, Parliament
Result: The King decided to pass the Intolerable Acts because of the colonists who dumped tea in the harbor, one of them being closing the Boston Harbor
Tea Act
- Parliament decided that instead of having the East India Company send the tea there before sending it to the colonies, they could just send it directly to the colonies.
- This angered the colonists since the East India Company now had a monopoly on tea trade to them
- In refusal to buy it from the East India Company, they boycotted them and instead smuggled tea from the Dutch
- This faced the East India Company with going bankrupt
KEY PEOPLE: East India Company, King George III, colonists
Repealing of Stamp Act
- Protesting from the colonists and mobs designed by Sam Adams led to the King eventually stopping the Stamp Act (BIG MISTAKE)
- This showed the colonists that all they had to do to stop them was complain
Key people: Samuel Adams, who organized the group, Sons of Liberty, Patrick Henry
Revolutionary War Causes
Taxes
Townshend Acts
1767: Parliament passed these acts, which placed taxes on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea.
- This angered BOTH women and men, since it was a tax on everyday items again
Key People: King George III, colonists: specifically Daughters of Liberty this time
Stamp Act
Colonists had to pay for the official stamp when they bought paper items.
This tax was paid on:
- legal documents
- newspapers
- pamphlets
- licenses
- playing cards
Key people: Prime Minister Grenville (same person as sugar act)
Result: Colonists were angered because there was no way to avoid this tax.
Sugar Act
After Great Britain won the French and Indian War, they had a lot of debt so Parliament passed the sugar act (1764)
- It was a big deal because sugar was used everyday
Key people: Prime Minister George Grenville
Result: The colonists only got more angered at the King and Parliament for being taxed without their representation in making the taxes
Violence
Boston Massacre
The colonists engaged in a riot / fight with some British soldiers.
- The British soldiers shot back, but there is debate over whether they were defending themselves or attacking
- Paul Revere's image angered the colonists, supported the Patriot movement, and made the British look bad by depicting them as shooting on "unarmed" people
KEY PEOPLE: Paul Revere, Captain Thomas Preston (he's the soldier that called in additional troops)
Result: This served as a "rallying point" for colonists who decided that the British were the enemy and stirred anger inside of them
Sons and Daughters of Liberty
Sons of Liberty:
- Recruited by Samuel Adams, these people were aggressive and willing to form mobs to rebel against the British
- Weren't very likable people, so they didn't have much to lose
Key People: Sam Adams, John Hancock, Patrick Henry
Daughters of Liberty:
- Similar to the Sons of Liberty, they rebelled against the British but did it more subtly through spying / conveying messages to each other
Key People: Abigail Adams, Martha Washington, Deborah Sampson
French and Indian War
The French and British were fighting over the Ohio River Valley territory because they wanted the farmland. A lot of African slaves were fighting instead of the colonist's or in their master's place.
Important People: George Washington, Virginia Colony Militia
Fighting ended in 1676, and 600 colonists and 3,000 Indians had been killed.
- This left England in a big debt.
Laws
Navigation Act 1763
- This regulated and controlled trade between England and the colonies
- It also restricted colonial trade with other places, almost isolating the colonies
Key People: Parliament, colonists, British
Result: The colonists got even more angry
Declaratory Act
- Parliament issued it after they realized that they had given the colonists empowerment by taking away the Stamp Act
- It was meant to remind the colonists that Parliament still had power in making the laws over them
Key People: King George III, Parliament, colonists
Result: The colonists pretty much ignored it; they didn't really care
Proclamation of 1763
- After the French and Indian War, they decided to keep the colonists from settling past the Appalachian divide to give the Native Americans their land
Key People: King George III, Pontiac (an Ottawa chief that led a revolt, which made the King do this)
- The colonists ignored it because they wanted good farmland while others just disliked it because it was an order from the King
