-
The Sugar Act
A tax put on sugar by the British Parliment in order to collect revinue for the British Government who was severely in debt and still attempting to pay for the costs of The French and Indian War. This was one of the events that angered colonists regarding "taxation without representation". -
The Declaration of Rights
The declaration of Rights and Grievances was a document that listed the rights that the colonist thought they had or should have. It also stated that taxing the american colonies without consent was unconstitutional. It also listed some of the things they thought the king was doing wrong. -
The Boston Massacre
On the night of March 5th, 1770, some Boston locals were harrasing a couple of British guards. A crowd gathered and the soldiers sent for renforcements. When the renforcements arrived, the situation had escalated and the crowd began throwing things. The soldiers felt threatened and suddenly one of them fired, prompting his fellow soldiers to fire into the crowd. Three civillians were dead instantly and two died afterwards from wounds. This was one of the major causes of the revolution. -
The Boston Tea Party
Colonists dressed as indians boarded three ships, carrying tea from england, and threw all the tea onboard into the Boston harbor after British officials stationed at Boston harbor refused to send the ships back to england because the colonists refused to pay the taxes. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of twelve out of the thirteen colonies of America who met in Carpenters Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They met to discuss the option of an ecenomic boycott of British trade, publishing a list of rihts and grievances, and petitioning King George for a redress of those grievances. -
Lexington and Concord
These battles were the first engagements of the revolutionaary war. They occured in Middlesex county in the towns of Lexington and Concord. The battles marked the begining of the war between Great Britian & the colonies. British troops were on their way to destroy a stockpile of colonial weapons hidden in Concord. They were confronted by a milita, which the destroyed. They were again confronted by a larger militia on their way out of Concord, the militia destroyed three companies of British -
Second Continental Congress
The second Continental Congress was in charge of the colonial war efforts. They were in charge of suppling the troops and doing the formal treaties and documents. -
The Battle of Bunker hill
This battle took place on Breeds Hill, right next to Bunker Hill. The Americans were winning and had ifnlicted a great amount of damage on British forces, but were forced to retreat because they had run out of amunition. This Brithish victory allowed the british to capture the Charlestown Peninsula -
Common Sense. By: Thomas Paine
Published by Thomas Paine in January 1776, this pamphlet was originally published anonymously. The pamphlet argued the idea of freedom from British rule at a time when independence from Britian was still a new idea. -
The Declaration of Independance
The Declaration of Independance was signed by the members of the second continental congress. This document declared Americas freedom from Great Britian. The first country to recognize this declaration, other than America, was France. -
The Battle of Trenton
On Christmas night, Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River in order to executa a sneak atack on the Hessian soldiers. The Hessians were caught completly off gaurd when Washington and his troops attacked their camp on the morning of the 26th. There was a brief battle which the americans won. This victory brought moral back to Washingtons army. -
The Battle of Brandywine Creek
The battle ended with a British victory, The Americans were forced to retreat, leaving Philadelphia undefended. The British eventually go on to capture Philadelphia (the patriots capital) on september 26th and held it untill June the following year. -
The Battle of New York (City)
General Howe of the British army drove Washington and his troops out of New York. This gave British conrtol of New York and the surrounding area. -
The Capture of Philadelphia
After defeating the Americans at Brandywine Creek, the British move on to capture the patriot capital of Philadelphia which they will hold untill June the next year. -
The Battle of Saratoga
John Burgoyne won a small battle aginst Haratio Gates on September 9th. Eighteen days later, he launched another attack on the Americans which backfired causing a loss of a portion of his defenses, forcing him to retreat to saratoga. Here, he was surrounded by a much larger American force and had no option but to surrender. -
Valley Forge
This is where George Washingtons hungry, ill supplied, weary, continental army rested for the winter of 1777. Conditions within were good dealing with shelter, which the men built themselves, but bad on food. The soldiers recieved irregular rations of meat and most nights they had to make "fire cakes" to eat. -
John Paul Jones Captures the Serapis
Captain John Paul Jones engaged the Serapis in The Battle of Flamborough Head. Jones, in command of the american naval ship the USS Bonhomme Richard, had the odds aginst him as the more heavily armed Serapis sprayed his ship with volleys of cannon fire. The commanding officer of the Serapis asked Jones if he was ready to surrender; Jones simply replied, "Sir, I have not yet begun to fight!". The Americans captured the Serapis, and the american ship sunk 36 hours after the battle. -
The Siege of Charlston
After six weeks of siege by British forces, Major Benjamin Lincolin was forced to surrender. The number of troops forced to surrender, five thousand, was the biggest loss of troops by the continental army during the entire revolution. -
The Battle of Yorktown
French and American force, lead by Comte de Rochambeau and George Washington, seiged and bombarded the British position. This seige eventually caused Cornwallis to surrender because he and his troops were cut off from supplies and the conditions were "rapidly deteriorating." This was the last major battle of the revolution. -
Treaty of Paris (Revolutionary war)
The treaty formally ended the revolutionary war. It was signed in Parris, France by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, all of whom were representing America, and on the British side was David Hartly, a member of British Parliment.
