Discussion Questions

1. The acts that parliament passed after the French and Indian war were part of the reason the people wanted to protest. Britain suffered and needed some extra money so they began to tax the colonists more heavily. They began to take away rights of the colonists such as The Proclamation of 1763 which said colonists could not move west of the Appalachian Mountains. The Stamp Act also made the colonists very angry and caused them to boycott all paper goods. The colonists were fed up with Britain’s rules and began to revolt against Parliament especially because they felt they were not being fairly being represented in Parliament .
2. In the First Continental Congress delegates from all the colonies except for Georgia were in attendance. They sent a letter too King George III explaining the issues they were having with the British Gov’t and they wanted to get rid of the intolerable acts. If there demands were not met they would boycott the British goods. The British ignored their demands and the boycott began. In the Second Continental Congress all the colonies were in attendance. In this meeting the Articles of Confederation were ratified. They also made up a plan to have a standing army due to the Battles of Lexington/Concord in previous months. This congress acted much more like a government sending ambassadors to foreign countries, printing its own money, getting loans, and raising an army.
3. The first battle of the Revolution was fought in Lexington and Concord. In this battle the Americans were severely outnumbered by the British and had a slim chance of winning this battle. The British defeated the militiamen and then moved on to concord to get rid of militia men weapons, but they had already been relocated. After this the British prepared to march back to Boston but the minute men were ready and fought from the trees and behind stone walls. This caused the British to retreat. The next major battle was the battle of Saratoga which was a turning point in the war for the Americans. Americans defeated the British by bombarding forts and taking British positions which persuaded the French to ally with the Americans. After being defeated in the North the British moved South to focus on Southern colonies. Beginning in late December 1778, the British captured Savannah and controlled the Georgia coastline. In 1780 they launched a fresh invasion and took Charleston as well. A significant victory at the battle of Camden meant that royal forces soon controlled most of Georgia and South Carolina. The British set up a network of forts inland, hoping the Loyalists would rally to the flag. Not enough Loyalists turned out, however, and the British had to fight their way north into North Carolina and Virginia, with a severely weakened army. Behind them much of the territory they had already