Jamestown to Revolutionary War

On this day 104 men and boys landed in the New World, they were sent by the Virginia Company of London to find riches like gold and silver just like the Spanish. They also sought natural resources, such as wood, and products made from raw materials like pitch and tar that were needed for other English industries. But mostly the men wanted to find a northwest passage that could lead them to where the wealth supposedly was, the East Indies. Jamestown was the first British colony to become successful and survive.

The starving time was during the winter of 1609, when there was food shortages, terrible leadership, and a siege from the Powhatan indians. These events killed about 65% of the colonists living at James Fort. In attempt to save the colony, the Virginia Company who was aware of the food shortages sent nine ships in the July of 1609, unlikely they all sailed into a hurricane causing severe damage to multiple ships, like the Sea Venture, the most important ship, that crashed on Bermuda Island. Only 300 new colonists made it to the James Fort with few supplies. Surviving on half a can of meal a day, the colonists knew they wouldn't last much longer. Another blow was when Captain John Smith was injured in a gunpowder explosion, leaving them with a unexperienced President of Council George Percy. Sicknesses like dysentery and typhoid, also killed the colonists, who resorted to eating shoe leather and horses. Driven to near starvation there were many accounts of cannibalism and even licking blood from fallen comrades off the ground. Finally in 1610, the repaired Sea Venture made it to the James Fort, finding only 60 survivors, they were forced to return to England. However before departure they were blocked off by Lord De la Warr who brought enough men and supplies to rebuild James Fort.

This was when tobacco was first brought to Jamestown by John Rolfe. This idea of tobacco farms were very important in the long run for Jamestown because they began trade agin with England and this enabled them to get extra resources if they ever needed them because the Virginia Company would make lots of money. Tobacco was a big industry and was widely enjoyed by the wealthy in Great Britain. By the 1630s a million and a half pounds of tobacco were being exported. And since tobacco farming required a lot of labor, more colonists were needed, making Jamestown grow and their economy improve.

Also known as the "Seven Years War," this conflict was between France and Great Britain. It was a war to decide who would get massive colonial territory in North America. This war began over who the upper Ohio River valley territory belonged to the British Empire and if they could begin trading between the Virginians and Pennsylvanians. The big question was who would get the center of North America. While Britain made an attempt, the French had largely explored the area and were already trading with the tribe that occupied the land, the Cherokees. The war began at the battle of Jumonville Glen, the 22 year old George Washington and his men ambushed a French patrol. The conflict went on for seven years, the war was won through capture of bases, demolition of supply routes, and most importantly striking fear into the French with the pure number of men Great Britain had over the French. In the end, the French submitted to the British Empire's dominance and gave Britain the territory of Mississippi and ceded French Louisiana so Spain could rebuild after Britain took Florida.

The Sugar Act was a modified version of the Molasses act of 1733 which was about to expire and was Great Britain's first attempt to get money to pay for the expensive French-Indian War, which when passed they tried to conceal their true intentions. This act cut the tax of molasses in half (now three pence). Parliament passed this act in hope of the tax being collected and colonists actually paying the tax in the first place because it was very expensive before. This made colonists uneasy, because they didn't trust Parliament and there intentions. In hopes of calming the colonies the Parliament assured them there motives were not only to regulate the trade but to increase sales of the product. The colonists believed that it was to pay for the war that was not their own (and they were correct). Then the quote"taxation without representation is tyranny." One of the biggest protesters of the Sugar act was Samuel Adams, who wrote about how these taxes were violation the rights of the colonists as British subjects.
Here is what he said:

"For if our Trade may be taxed why not our Lands? Why not the Produce of our Lands & every thing we possess or make use of? This we apprehend annihilates our Charter Right to govern & tax ourselves – It strikes our British Privileges, which as we have never forfeited them, we hold in common with our Fellow Subjects who are Natives of Britain: If Taxes are laid upon us in any shape without our having a legal Representation where they are laid, are we not reduced from the Character of free Subjects to the miserable State of tributary Slaves?"

Colonies started not buying luxury goods like molasses as a form of protest to the Empire. Eventually in 1766 shortly after the Stamp Act, the act was repealed.

The Stamp Act was an act passed by Parliament that taxed all printed paper that had a stamp on it. This included legal documents, magazines, playing cards, newspapers, and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies. To their inconvenience, the printed items all had to be paid for using valid British currency and not the paper money used by colonists. This act was passed to pay for the expenses of the French-Indian War and for the troops stationed in North American after the conflict concluded. Similar to the Sugar Act colonized protested this Act and were again under the slogan of "Taxation without representation is tyranny." The protesters were all over the colonies from New England to Maryland. All the petitions pressured the Parliament, and the act was repealed exactly a year later.

The Townshend acts were named after Charles Townshend, the man who presented the ideas. The acts were the Revenue Act of 1767, the Indemnity Act (1767), the Commissioners of Customs Act (1767), the Vice Admiralty Court Act (1768), and the New York Restraining Act (1767). The purpose of this act was to pay governors and judges handsomely so they would remain loyal to Great Britain, to enforce trading regulations, to punish New York for not following the Quartering Act, and to show the colonies that no matter what Britain will tax if they like it or not. This made Britain send troops to the colonies which eventually lead to the Boston Massacre in 1770. After extreme protesting, Parliament started to slowly repeal the acts, however, there was still taxes without the colonist approval, which made the colonists begin the Revolutionary War.

The Boston Massacre also known as the "Incident on King Street" by the British, was when British soldiers shot into a crowd of protesters in self defense. The knowledge of this event was purposely spread around America in order to make colonists even more willing to begin a mass rebellion against the British Empire. The event occurred when a solider stationed in Boston (in order to protect officials) began getting verbally abused and harassed, and was eventually backed up by eight other soldiers who began getting hit by clubs, stones, and snowballs. They fired into the crowd without orders and killed three people instantly, and injured other. After that two others died from injuries bringing the body count up to five. The only punishment given to the few men that were convicted was branding on the hand which made the colonists fell that justice was not given for their fellow brethren.

The Boston Tea Party was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts. Disguised as Indians the men boarded a ship full of imported tea sent by the East India Company. They destroyed all the tea on board in defiance of the Tea Act in 1773. The Boston Tea party was significant in the growth of the American Revolution. In anger the Parliament responded with the Intolerable Acts. This ended self government in Massachusetts and destroyed commerce in Boston. The Thirteen Colonies responded to the Coercive Acts with additional acts of protest and tried to force Britain to repeal the acts. The conflict got bigger which eventually lead to the Revolutionary War.

The Intolerable Acts are the American's term for a series of laws passed by Parliament that were meant to punish the colonists for the protest known as the Boston Tea Party. In Britain these acts were called the Coercive Acts. These acts took away the privilege of being able to have colonist governors in the state of Massachusetts, closed the Boston's ports, allowed British officials to indict people, and placed soldiers in each colony. By making an example of Massachusetts, Parliament hoped the colonists would become scared a stop their protesting. The Patriots organized the First Continental Congress to coordinate a protest, when things started getting heated it eventually lead to the Revolutionary War.