The Seven Year's War and the Struggle for Independence

1. AP Chapter 6 From Empire to Independence

2. The Seven Year’s War Albany Conference of 1754- met in Albany, NY and included representatives from the colonies along with the Iroquois Confederacy The British wanted a collective response to the problems with New France and hoped to negotiate a truce with the Iroquois. Iroquois Confederation walked out and refused to join the British alliance

4. Benjamin Franklin’s Plan of Union Plan proposed by Franklin that wanted all colonial affairs of mutual interests to be controlled by a general govt. for the colonies Leaders would be appointed by the Crown and the legislative body could make laws and raise revenue It would have made the colonies self governing but colonial assemblies rejected it

5. Colonial Aims and Indian Interests Because the colonies did not work well together it made if very difficult to fight the war with the natives b/c it was so widespread and hard to command Most of the issues arose in the Ohio Region, WNY and Niagara Falls, and the St. Lawrence River British and French competed over these areas along with the Native Americans

6. Many Native Americans had already fled to the frontier and were now being forced out again Iroquois Confederacy hoped to play one colonial power against another Small skirmishes broke out occasionally over territorial claims

8. French and Indian War 1756-1763 Full scale warfare broke out in 1756 between Britain and France British suffered early defeats in the war British eventually invaded Canada and were successful in driving out the French British forces promised N. Americans “redressing of grievances” or land if they agreed to help against the French

11. GB led by Gen. James Wolfe took over Quebec and Montreal GB also took control of several Spanish and French colonies in the Caribbean Treaty of Paris (1763)- France gave up all rights to land east of the Mississippi River (except New Orleans) and gave land west of the Mississippi to the Spanish British received Florida from Spain

12. The Struggle For The West Indians living on the frontier were furious that the French gave away their land to the British Tensions rose between British and Natives along the frontier and small attacks occurred Royal Proclamation of 1763- boundary lined that established the crest of the Appalachian Mts. East- British colonies, West- “Indian Country”

14. Colonists were upset that they were limited on where they could settle Settlers kept moving west and eventually the British began pushing the Indians to make land concessions March of the Paxton Boys in PA attacked and killed 20 Native Americans, eventually marched to the capital (similar to Bacon’s) Many tribes reluctantly gave up their land claims when they realized they had no choice

15. American Nationalism F&I War gave a sense of pride and identity to the colonists for their efforts but also showed a clear divide between the colonist and British Colonial forces were volunteers so they were not as well disciplined as the British British forces looked down upon the Colonist

16. Press, Politics, and Republicanism Colonial press was the most important means of communication in the colonies 1735 NYC editor John Peter Zenger was indicted for seditious libel for printing antigovernment articles Zenger was acquitted and it est. the principle of freedom of the press 1760 more than 20 weekly newspapers circulated the colonies

18. Editors began to look at events from a “continental” perspective and referred to themselves as Americans Articles from Locke, Montesquieu, and others that criticized govt., and preached ideas of liberty and the consent of the governed Republicanism- colonial point of view towards politics that influenced colonial America

19. Republicanism preached limited govt., liberty and that authority of a ruler is conditional rather than absolute Supported a distribution of power and people are given the right to vote

20. The Sugar and Stamp Acts The cost of maintaining a military in the colonies and fighting the F&I War led to a huge financial burden on the British British had several regulations that they seldom enforced but soon started Sugar Act 1764- tax on sugar imports and more trade restrictions Colonists began to protest the new taxes

22. “No taxation without representation” became a common theme Stamp Tax 1765- taxes on paper for legal documents, publications and playing cards Colonist were already experiencing hard economic times and the new taxes made things worse Colonist felt they were not being recognized

24. Parliament said by “virtual representation” that Americans were subject to the acts of Parliament Colonist Daniel Dulany argued for “actual representation” Several colonial assemblies denounced the Stamp Act and proclaimed “no taxation without representation”

25. Sons of Liberty- a political organization made up of merchants, lawyers and craftsman that rose up in many colonial towns and cities Sons of Liberty distributed pamphlets, petitions and encouraged moderate forms of protest End of 1765 most stamp distributors had resigned making it impossible for the British to enforce the Stamp Act

27. Repeal of the Stamp Act 1766 Parliament repealed the Stamp Act and reduced the duties of the Sugar Act Declaratory Act- gave Parliament the full authority to make all laws binding in the colonies which gave them absolute control Repeal of the Stamp Act and the passage of the Declaratory Act just postponed the conflict

28. Townshend Revenue Acts England was facing a rising national debt and rather than face protest at home they decided to tax the colonies Townshend Revenue Act- passed in 1767 and imposed duties (taxes) on colonial tea, lead, paint, paper and glass Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania by John Dickinson argued that Parliament had no right to raise taxes in the colonies

30. Dickinson’s writings were spread all throughout the colonies Colonists were upset with the Townshend Act and boycotted many of those items Sons of Liberty would erect liberty poles with banners and flags proclaiming their cause Tensions mounted between the colonist and the British troops/officials

31. Boston Massacre Tensions between the British and Colonists were extremely tense in Boston Boston Massacre- March 5th 1770 during a protest British troops fired and killed 5 Paul Revere produced a print of the incident that circulated throughout the colonies Parliament repealed the Townshend Acts after news of the massacre

33. Tea Act Tea Act of 1773- parliament allowed the East India Company to sell tea through America w/o paying taxes collected by the British, which greatly lowered the cost Virginia H of B- created a committee to keep intelligence information of British actions Americans had boycotted tea b/c of the Townshend Acts but the Tea Act made the item very cheap and many despised the law

34. Boston Tea Party-A group of 50-60 men boarded British ships and dumped the tea into the harbor Many others followed Boston’s example Coercive (Intolerable) Acts- passed in response to the Boston Tea Party and demanded that the colonist pay for the lost items Massachusetts colonial assembly was annulled by the British and closed Boston to shipping

37. Quartering Act-legalized the housing of troops in homes and private dwellings Quebec Act 1774- created and appointed govt. for the area taken from France during the F&I War and allowed Catholicism Committee of Correspondence- formed by the colonists to keep the people informed of British actions that impacted the colonists

38. First Continental Congress Meeting of delegates from most of the colonies in 1774 to respond to the Coercive Acts Members included Samuel and John Adams, Patrick Henry, George Washington, John Dickinson, John Jay and Joseph Galloway Congress stressed the importance of natural rights, created militias and began to organize a provincial congress

40. Committee of Safety- group that carried on the functions of govt. at the local level Minutemen- militia formed in Mass., and throughout to be prepared to fight instantly England responded by restraining commerce even more Colonies and Britain were on the verge of war

42. Lexington and Concord April 18, 1775-British were marching to capture American ammunition at Concord Paul Revere alerted the minutemen who met them at Lexington and shots were fired killing 8 Americans British marched onto Concord and destroyed the ammunitions stockpile

45. Colonist did attack and kill British troops at the Concord bridge and on the way back to Boston Word of the deaths spread throughout the colonies Colonist were effective in using guerilla warfare on the British troops

46. 2nd Continental Congress Opened in May 1775 and 12 colonies were represented (Georgia was not there) Congress decided they needed to go to a state of defense and the militia forces in Boston became the Continental Army George Washington became the commander of the Continental Army Colonists were moving towards independence

48. Olive Branch Petition- July, 1775 passed by Congress and written by Dickinson asking to prevent further hostilities They also vowed “to die freemen rather than to live as slaves” August 1775 King George rejected the petition and declared the colonies were being openly rebellious

49. Congress reconvened in Sept., 1775 and created a navy and was acting as the govt. of the 13 colonies Common Sense- written by Thomas Paine gave justification to the colonial attempts and called King George a “brute” Sold more than 100,000 copies and reshaped people’s ideas