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Royal Colony of New Jersey established by Queen Anne from separate provinces of East New Jersey and West New Jersey.
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Deerfield, Massachusetts was attacked by French and Indian forces.
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Declaration of war occurs in Dummer's War after skirmishes earlier in the year between New England colonists and the Wabanaki Confederacy, backed by New France. Lasted three years until December 15, 1725.
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George Washington is born in Westmoreland County, Virginia.
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Province of Georgia corporate charter granted to General James Oglethorpe. The settlement was a penal colony.
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Freedom of the Press became recognized in New York after the trial of John Peter Zenger, who had been accused of libeling the British Government in his Weekly Journal. Zenger was acquitted on that date.
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The first battle of King George's War begins with a raid by New French against the British port of Canso. The four-year conflict against northern British colonies took a heavy toll after battles in Maine, at Fort Massachusetts, and in Saratoga, New York.
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Benjamin Franklin invents the lightning rod after earlier in the year proving that lightning was electricity by flying a kite in a thunderstorm.
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George Washington and his troops attack Fort Duquesne, caused by French forces building and occupying of Fort Duquesne in Pittsburgh and did not heed warnings to leave Virginia territory.
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Battle of Fort Necessity occurs in southwestern Pennsylvania in a small fort built for supplies. That battle of the French and Indian War ends in a peace document, allowing Washington's withdrawal and surrender of the fort.
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French and Indian War ends with peace treaty that cedes Canada and the American midwest to English. This signals and effectively tightens the control of Great Britain's colonial administration of North America.
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The Sugar Act places a duty on various commodities, including lumber, food, molasses, and rum in the British colonies.
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After the establishment of the Stamp Act by the British Government on March 22, which required revenue stamps, taxes, to pay for British troops, nine American colonies hold a Stamp Act Congress in New York and adopted a Declaration of Rights against taxation without representation.
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Additional levies are put on goods in American colonies by the British Government when the Townshend Acts are enacted, including levies on glass, painter's lead, paper, and tea. All would be repealed in three years, except for the tax on tea.
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The Boston Massacre occurs when British troops fire into a Boston mob, who were demonstrating against British troops at the customs commission. The first to fall was Crispus Attucks, a fugitive slave and merchant seaman near the front, followed by four other men amongst the forty-fifty patriots. This event was later credited as the first battle in the American Revolution, which began five years later, and was used as an incident to further the colonist's cause of rebellion.
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William Clark, explorer noted for his Lewis and Clark Expedition, and later Governor of the Missouri Territory and Superintendent of Indian Affairs, is born.
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Samuel Adams organizes the Committee of Correspondence, a forerunner of the union of American colonies, that begins the American Revolution. The meeting was held in Faneuil Hall, Boston.
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The Sons of Liberty boarded three ships in the nearby harbor, tossing the 342 chests of tea overboard. The Boston Tea Party caused Parliament to close the port of Boston and pushed the American colonies one step closer to war.
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The Intolerable Acts, including the reestablishment of the Quartering Act, requiring colonists allow British soldiers into their homes, and the curtailment of Massachusetts self-rule, are enacted by the British government. Later led to the 3rd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the U.S. Army from doing the same.
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The First Continental Congress is held in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia, protesting the Intolerable Acts. The Congress, attended by all American colonies except Georgia, petitioned King George to stop the new regulations on Massachusetts and called for civil disobedience and boycotts of British wares by the American Association. No concessions were made by the King or English parliament.
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Patrick Henry addresses the Virginia House of Burgesses in St. John’s Church in Richmond, where he decreed, “Give me Liberty or Give me Death.” His speech is often credited with convincing Virginia to permit Virginia troops to enter the Revolutionary War. The crowd reacted to Henry’s speech with fervent cries, “To Arms! To Arms!”
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During an armed resistance, 8 Minutemen were killed at Lexington and the British took 273 casualties on their return from Concord, starting the American Revolution. This was a culmination of the months prior, as colonists began to gather arms and powder if fighting the British became necessary.
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Thomas Paine, an English writer, publishes his pamphlet "Common Sense," stating the ability and right of America to create a democratic and free nation, winning public support for the cause of American independence from Britain.
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The Declaration of Independence, from the pen of Thomas Jefferson and his committee, is approved in the Second Continental Congress of the United States of America, held in Independence Hall, Philadelphia.
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At McKonkey's Ferry, General Washington and his 2,400 troops cross the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to New Jersey on Christmas Day from 4 p.m. until 4 a.m. the next morning and defeats 1,400 Hessians in the 1st Battle of Trenton, capturing 900 men.
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The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union are adopted by the Continental Congress in Independence Hall. It serves as the first constitution of the United States.
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France signs the treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United States, officially recognizing the new nation, and sends Pierre L’Enfant to be captain of engineers at Valley Forge.
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Charleston, South Carolina falls to the British after an effective siege.
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British troops under Lord Cornwallis gain a costly victory at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina at the expense of Major General Nathanael Greene.
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Outnumbered English forces settled in Yorktown surrender to the Americans and French. This is the last battle of the Revolutionary War.
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The Bald Eagle is adopted by Congress as the national bird.
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In Paris, France, John Adams leads an American delegation and signs the peace treaty officially ending the Revolutionary War between the United States and Britain.
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Five state delegates at a meeting in Annapolis, Maryland call for Congress to hold a convention in Philadelphia in order to write a constitution for the thirteen states.
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In Massachusetts, six hundred debt-ridden farmers, led by Daniel Shays, revolt against their creditors and high Massachusetts taxes. Daniel Shays would escape to Vermont with the death penalty on his head, but later would be pardoned for his actions
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The Northwest Ordinance, which determined a government for the Northwest Territory of the United States is adopted by the Continental Congress.
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George Washington is elected unanimously by the Electoral College as the 1st President of the United States.
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The First Bank of the United States chartered in Philadelphia for twenty years by the United States Congress, part of the three part expansion of federal fiscal policy, including a federal mint and excise taxes.
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In Philadelphia's Congress Hall, the Bill of Rights, which constitutes the first ten amendments to the Constitution, takes effect. Two of the original twelve amendments do not pass.
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Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin, which could do the work of fifty men when cleaning cotton by hand.
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John Adams became the second president of the United States.
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The Alien and Sedition Acts, four bills that included making it a federal crime to publish malicious statements about the United States Government, plus powers of the President to control immigration and imprison and deport aliens who opposed the government, go into law.
