At school, we had to make a children's book about the American Revolution. Since I can't draw 20 pages worth of humans, I decided to do it with my own twist. Enjoy the Revolution through bumblebees!
1754-1763
The Revolutionary War (20) all starts with the French and Indian War (2).
The British and French had continuous fighting for nine whole years! In the end,
the French lost and had to give up all of their North American land east of the Mississippi
River.
1764-1765
Now that the British were broke, they decided it would be a great idea to just tax the
Americans. They first initiated the Sugar Act (3) of 1765, which put taxes on all sugary
items, then the Stamp Act (4) which put taxes on all paper and documented goods.
The colonies hated this, and revolted by burning, boycotting, and threatening colonial
stamp distributors. The British backed down and canceled this law.
1767
The British Parliament (7), slightly angered, tried again by making the Townshend Act,
which taxed imported goods to the Americas, trying to reinstall their dominance.
The colonists had other ideas. They resisted this act by smuggling, evasion, and
physical violence against British soldiers. The British sent two armies to one of the
most problematic areas, Boston, Massachusetts.
1770
The people of Boston saw these soldiers and thought, “How could they do this?! First these stupid acts now these clowns!?!”. They quickly turned to protesting. They gathered and started yelling insults and throwing rocks or snowballs at the red coats(British). The soldiers were armed, the civilians were not. Threatened by the mob, they opened fire, killing five colonists. This was known as the Boston Massacre (8).
1773
The people of America were protesting because of “No Taxation Without Representation” (5) and the British kept pushing their buttons, for example with the Tea Act (9). In reality, the Tea Act was meant to boost the East India Company, by selling more tea to the colonies for less money. Sounds good, right? More for less. The colonies thought that this was just a way the British would try and monopolize the tea industry. They protested this time with the Boston Tea Party (10). Colonists from Boston dressed up as Indians and boarded a tea ship, and threw all the tea overboard!
1774
Due to colonial resistance, the British made what is known as the Intolerable Acts.
This consisted of The Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government Act, Administration
of Justice Act, and the Quartering Act. The people of America were so outraged, that it
would soon breed the Continental Congress.
1774
In response to the Intolerable Acts (11), twelve of the thirteen colonies, Georgia excluded,
gathered together to address the problem. The 5-6 delegates from each colony met in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After a lot of hard thinking, they decided to orchestrate
organized revolts. This meeting was called the First continental Congress (12).
1775
This year a lot happen. The Second Continental Congress (13) met and chose to create a
unified continental army to fight the British. This initiated the very first battle of the American
Revolution was the Battles of Lexington and Concord, MA (16). The famous “Midnight Ride
of Paul Revere” also happened, in order to warn the colonial army that, ”The British are
coming!”(whisper). With the Americans tolling 90 losses while the British 273, the colonists
won their first battle!
1775
The Battle of Bunker hill, actually on Breed’s hill, was the next combat area. The British’s
2,300 troops cleared the hill and the Americans lost their control of that territory. Luckily for the
Americans, the British suffered 40% loss of their army, so the victory was really for the patriots.
1776
A little side note, not everyone wanted to be separated from the British. Those who wanted
to stay were called Loyalists (18) and the others were called Patriots (17). The Loyalists
were discriminated against and faced lots of physical and emotional abuse. However,
Thomas Paine published a pamphlet called “Common Sense”, which sold 100,000 copies
in just a few months. This publicized the war and sparked the idea of the Declaration of
Independence (15).
1776
Thus the Declaration of Independence was written, by Thomas Jefferson (19), to formally
base their government off of. The Congress voted on July 2nd that they wanted Independence.
On July 4th they officially adopted the Declaration and set forth on their journey to freedom.
1776
The fighting never stops. The British chased off the armies in New York, and took hold of that city.
General George Washington (21) did not give up yet. They struck back with the Continental Army on
Christmas, when no one would expect them to. They crossed the Delaware river, dealing with the ice
and cold, surprising the Hessian army at Trenton and taking over 900 of their soldiers prisoner. The
American win at Trenton and Princeton, NJ (22) reignited the colonies morale.
1777
A British commander named John Burgoyne captured Fort Ticonderoga then lost horribly at
Bennington, Vermont and Bemis Heights, New York. All of that fighting wore out his troops
and his numbers. This caused him to surrender at Saratoga to the Americans. This was
called the Battle of Saratoga, NY (23).
1777
George Washington had many failures as well, and needed to give his army a rest. They settled down and took refuge at Valley Forge, PA (25), but because it was winter and they were running low on supplies, many died from starvation or hypothermia. The war also took place during a smallpox outbreak, so that contributed to the death count. Their morale was shattered, until June came and their grueling time spent at Valley Forge, PA made them into a stronger and more disciplined army, thanks to the training of Baron Von Steuben.
1778
The French and British hate each other, so it was inevitable that they were aiding the
Americans the whole time! The French Army and Navy (24) gave them supplies, food,
guns, etc. They even signed formal agreements called the Treaty of Amity and Commerce
and the Treaty of Alliance. They prepared ships to attack Britain and formally declared war
in 1778.
1781
In order to establish a government, there must be rules or guidelines for everyone to follow.
These were called the Articles of Confederation (28). It was a bridge of the Continental
Congress and the federal government. It was adopted in 1777, but not fully ratified until 1781.
1781
The British had hold of Yorktown, VA and the Continental army decided to put it under siege.
The French also helped by deploying their forces to further aid George Washington. The
British Commander, Cornwallis, surrendered his army of 7,000 men. This was called the
Battle of Yorktown, VA (26). Also, during this time, the original Constitution Ratified (38) was
adopted. It meant that ¾ of the states had to vote “yes” in order to pass a law.
1783
The British had had enough of this war. They wanted to end it because it was costing them
more than they had imagined. The Americans and King George (6) the 3rd signed the
Treaty of Paris (27), in Paris, to formally declare the thirteen colonies (1) independent from
Britain. The war was over and the Americans had won!
1786
Shays’ Rebellion (29) came a while after, and was an armed rebellion against the government.
The people who took part thought that there were economic and civil right injustices that had
to be changed soon. They briefly succeeded in shutting down the court, but thanks to the
Massachusetts privately funded militia, they managed to stop Shay and his riot.
1787
The Great Compromise (40) and the Three Fifths Compromise (39) both took place at this
time, both trying to equalize the government. Thus the Constitutional Convention (30) was
held this year in order to discuss and formally write down the new ideas. James Madison (31)
helped a lot in the drafting the United States Constitution (32) and made the first ten
amendments, the United States Bill of Rights (41).
Extra Facts!
Later on, George Washington (Washington’s Election (42)) was elected as the first president
and then reelected for a second term, while John Adams (14) was elected as the first Vice
President and as the second president. Also, they government was structured into 3 main
branches, the Legislative (33), the Judicial (35), and the Executive (34). In order to keep the
three branches equal, they put forth Checks and Balances (36). This also helped to sooth the
Federalists and Anti-Federalists (37) dispute over the government a bit by giving each side
something they wanted.
Glossary
(1) Thirteen Colonies- The original 13 lands conquered by the British.
(2) French and Indian War- A series of fighting against the British and the French between 1754 and
1763
(3) Sugar Act- A law made by the British Parliament in 1764 raising the duties for refined sugar to give
British sugar growers a monopoly in the market.
(4) Stamp Act- A tax placed on any documents or paper goods.
(5) “No Taxation without Representation”- A slogan that expressed the feelings of the colonies, which
helped spark the idea of a revolution.
(6) King George III- The king of Britain and Ireland from 1738-1820.
(7) British Parliament- The highest legislative authority in the British government.
(8) Boston Massacre- A riot in Boston where the British soldiers opened fire and killed five colonists.
(9) Tea Act- An act made by the British Parliament to sell their excess amounts of tea in the East India
Company at a reduced price.
(10) Boston Tea Party- Colonists dressed up as Indians and boarded a British tea ship to throw all the
tea into the harbor as a revolt.
(11) Intolerable Acts- A series of acts passed by the British Parliament to punish the people of Boston
for the Boston Tea Party.
(12) First Continental Congress- A meeting in Philadelphia with 12 of the delegates from the thirteen
colonies to discussed how to deal with the British’s unfair treatment.
(13) Second Continental Congress- A meeting in Philadelphia with 12 of the delegates from the
thirteen colonies to decide whether to make a Continental Army or not.
(14) John Adams- Second president, political leader, and signer of the Declaration of Independence.
(15) Declaration of Independence- A document written by Thomas Jefferson to formally declared
America's independence from Britain.
(16) Battles of Lexington and Concord, MA- The first battle of the American Revolution.
(17) Patriots- People who were with the idea of separating from Britain.
(18) Loyalists- People who did not want to separate from Britain.
(19) Thomas Jefferson- Political leader and principal author of the Declaration of Independence.
(20) War of Independence (or Revolutionary War)- A war for independence in the 18th century
between the 13 colonies(allied with the French) and Great Britain.
(21) George Washington- First president of the United States and commanding general during the
Revolutionary war.
(22) Battles of Trenton and Princeton, NJ- Washington’s army crossed the Delaware river during
Christmas and won two major battles and defeated a lot of Hessian mercenaries before retreating.
(23) Battle of Saratoga, NY- The British under Burgoyne were defeated in 1777.
(24) French Army and Navy- Shipped supplies to the Americans secretly and helped fight the British.
(25) Valley Forge, PA- A valley which served as a fort for the American army and killed many of the
men from the winter cold and diseases.
(26) Battle of Yorktown, VA- The last battle of the Revolutionary war fought in 1781 near the seacoast
of Virginia.
(27) Treaty of Paris- A treaty signed between King George the 3rd and the representatives of the
United States of America.
(28) Articles of Confederation- The original constitution ratified in 1781, but was later replaced by the
US constitution.
(29) Shays’ Rebellion- A protest led by former militia leader about the foreclosure of farms for debt,
and they briefly succeeded in shutting down the court system.
(30) Constitutional Convention- The gathering that drafted the constitution.
(31) James Madison- A leader in drafting the constitution, a member of the Continental Congress,
and president after Thomas Jefferson.
(32) United States Constitution- A document that states the fundamental laws and principles that the
US should be governed by.
(33) Legislative Branch- The part of the government that creates laws.
(34) Executive Branch- The part of the government that implements and supports the laws made
by the Legislative Branch.
(35) Judicial Branch- The part of the government that handles the systems of court.
(36) Checks and Balances- The counterbalancing or organization of a government so that power is
not concentrated in one place.
(37) Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists- People who have strong feelings on whether the movement
of making the government stronger.
(38) Constitution Ratified- To pass a law, ¾ of the states must vote “aye” opposed to “nay”.
(39) Three Fifths Compromise- The process for the states to count slaves as part of the the population.
(40) Great Compromise- A call for proportional representation in the House, one senate per state.
(41) United States Bill of Rights- The first ten amendments in the Constitution.
(42) Washington’s Election- Was elected to a second term by the electoral college.
