American History
American Revolution
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a protest against taxation. So the colonist dressed up as Indians so no one could recognize who they were. Then they proceeded to go on the ships in the harbor that had bags full of tea then threw them overboard. This all happened on the night of December 16, 1773 lead by Samuel Adams and followed by the Sons of Liberty. There were also effects of the protest created the punitive Coercive acts in 1774 and reared the two sides closer to war.
Proclamation of 1763
In 1763, at the end of the French and Indian War, the British created a proclamation. It was intended to stop the Indians by checking the encroachment of settlers on their land. It also stop colonial expansion westward. All land west of the Appalachian Mountains was off-limits to colonial settlers. However in search for good farmland many colonists defied the proclamation.
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5,1770. A squad of British soldiers, came to support a sentry who was being pursued by a snowballing crowd. Because the British were trying to enforce the Townshend Acts. But the British soldiers shot at the crowd, in return 5 people were killed. Later the British officer in charge was arrested for manslaughter along with eight other men.
Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord, on April 19, 1775, launched the American Revolutionary War into action. For years there have been tension between the 13 American colonies and the British. It all started on the night of April 18, 1775, when British troops marched from Boston to Concord to seize an arms cache. But during a confrontation in Lexington was where the fighting started this caused the British to retreat. Paul Revere was a big contribution to the victory of the colonists and their independence.
Battle of Saratoga
The two Battles of Saratoga were a turning point in the American Revolution. On September 19th, British General John Burgoyne achieved a small, but costly victory over American forces led by Horatio gates and Benedict Arnold. Though his troop strength had been weakened, Burgoyne again attacked the Americans at Bemis Heights on October 7th, but was defeated and forced to retreat. The American victory convinced the French government to recognize the colonist's cause and entered the war as their ally.
Battle of Yorktown
In the fall of 1781, a combined American force of Colonial and French troops laid siege to the British Army at Yorktown, Virginia. Led by George Washington and French General Comte de Rochambeau, they began their final attack on October 14th, capturing two British defenses and leading to the surrender. Yorktown proved to be the final battle of the American Revolution. Later the the British began peace negotiations shortly after the American Victory.