america

• • Boston Massacre (1770)- 5 Bostonians were killed when British troops fired at their protest. They protested due to the murder of an 11 year old boy.
• Seven Years War- Meant that an army of 10,000 men were needed to protect America and Britain made America pay for it through excessive taxation.
• 'No taxation without representation'- Inspired by the Enlightenment movement, the Americans rejected taxation without representative democracy.
• Townshend Duties (1767)- Taxes on glass, lead, paint, paper and tea. They were expected to bring in £40,000 annually.
• Sons of Liberty (1765)- A paramilitary organisation led by Sam Adams, created to oppose British attempts at taxation.
• Repeal of the Townshend Duties (1770)- London repealed all duties apart from those on tea after the Boston Massacre to avoid further conflict.
• Committees of Correspondence- Set up to represent the colonies and their grievances. Used also to unite the patriots.
• Tea Act (1773)- To stop EIC bankruptcy, Parliament allowed the EIC to trade directly with America, circumventing mercantilism. Although the tea was cheaper, it was still seen as illegal taxation.
• Boston Tea Party (1773)- Ships were boarded by patriots dressed as native Americans. They sunk 342 crates of tea worth £10,000.
• Coercive Acts (1774)- Closed the port in Boston until the tea was paid for, gave the governor power to appoint and remove officials and moved murder trails to England to circumvent sympathetic juries.
• Continental Congress (1774)- A meeting of colonial delegates to discuss issues not addressed by the British. They wanted Massachussetts to prepare for war.
• Lexington and Concord (1775)- General Gage attempted to steal weapons from Concord's military store. His troops were met with 75 patriots at Lexington and 73 British troops were killed.
• Bunker Hill (1775)- Generals Howe, Burgoyne and Clinton arrived in Boston attempting to seize Bunker Hill. There were 1000 British casualties and had to retreat to Nova Scotia.
• Common Sense, Thomas Paine (1776)- Argued America should establish a new system of government, leading to the Declaration of Independence.
• British strengths in the war- had 48,000 soldiers and could hire Germans to fight for them. Had 340 Navy ships. The economy was well established and had a large industrial base.
• British weaknesses in the war- supplying troops to America was difficult and supply lines had to be long to connect with boats. They had limited direction from London and were often disunited and divided.
• American strengths in the war- were united in their calls for democracy. Were fighting on familiar ground and were led by Washington who continually reorganised the army to improve its efficiency.
• American weaknesses in the war- had limited economic development in terms of paper money and manufacturing weapons.
• General Burgoyne's defeat in Saratoga (1777)- Wanted to surround New York coming from Canada but wasn't co-ordinated with Howe and Clinton so he became surrounded by American troops. The British were imprisoned until the end of the war in 1783.
• French and Spanish entry into the war (1778-1779)- joined after Burgoyne's defeat in Saratoga and Franklin's persuasion as ambassador.
• Impact of France and Spain- British navy dropped by almost 30%, British troops dropped by 45%. They helped defeat the British in Yorktown and Mississippi Valley.
• General Cornwallis' defeat at Yorktown (1781)- Britain had moved into Charleston so Washington used 16,000 troops to lay seige on them for 3 weeks whilst the French controlled Chesapeake Bay. Cornwallis surrendered.
• Peace of Paris (1783)- Signed by the French, British, Spanish, Dutch and American delegates. It recognised American indepence, divided European powers' possession of imperial colonies.