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St. Augustine Battle
The French and English battle at St. Augustine in Florida, the War of Spanish Succession in the Americas to be called Queen Anne's War - Anne being Queen England. In the Americas, both sides use Indians as allies. An Anglo-Dutch fleet destroys a Spanish treasure fleet off the coast of Spain, capturing a fortune in silver. -
Tuscarora War
European settlement in North Caroline has been a disaster for Tuscarora "Indians." In September they attack British, Dutch and German settlers, beginning the Tuscarora War. -
New Orleans Founding
The French colonist Jean Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville founds New Orleans, choosing a site seen as having strategic advantages militarily as well as having access to the gulf and trading advantages. The spot is dry, but it is the fall season. -
Poor Richard's Almanac
Benjamin Franklin's agricultural handbook, Poor Richard's Almanac, is published. -
Georgia
Georgia, the last of Britain's thirteen colonies, is founded as a debtors' asylum. -
Slave Revolt
In South Carolina, 75 slaves with liberated weapons flee toward Florida (then under Spanish rule). The revolt is crushed by the South Carolina militia. -
Attacks over Ohio
Both England and France have claimed the Ohio Valley. George Washington and a force of Virginia militiamen march into Ohio to drive away from the French. King George II of Britain is concerned about the security of his territory on the continent, Hanover, and signs a defensive treaty with Frederick the Great of Prussia to discourage the French from attacking Hanover. -
British Succeed Against French
British arms have succeeded against the French in North America. French resistance there ends. -
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War ends. Britain, Spain, and France sign the Treaty of Paris, and Austria and Prussia signed the Peace of Hubertusburg in February. Austria gains nothing. France loses possessions in the Americas and cedes to Spain the huge territory of Louisiana, including New Orleans. France agrees to pull out of India, and it cedes its colony by the Senegal River to the British. Spain acquires Cuba and the Philippines and gives up Florida, which goes to Britain. -
Pontiac's War
With the Seven Years' War, Britain has acquired the territory from the French in North America's Great Lakes region. By April, many tribes in the area are fed up with the policies of Britain's General Jeffrey Amherst begin to attack British forests and the settlements of colonists, to be called Pontiac's War. -
The Pennsylvania Assembly
The Indian raids against colonizers have expanded. The Pennsylvania Assembly, with the approval of Governor Penn, reintroduces the scalp bounties, money paid for every Indian killed above the age of ten, including females. It was the first extensive multi-tribal resistance to European colonization in North America. The British fought back with military actions and separate treaties. aided by conflicts between tribes. -
Trading with the West
A French trading company establishes a trading post on the Mississippi River, to be known as St. Louis. Edward Gibbon decides to write The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. -
Sovereign Nation
France signs an alliance with the American rebel force and recognizes the United States of America as a sovereign nation on February 5. On July 5, France's king, Louis XVI, declares war on Britain. -
Articles of Confederation
South Carolina becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation -
Revolutionary War
During the American Revolutionary War, a French fleet drives a British naval force to Chesapeake Bay. The British general, Lord Cornwallis, is surrounded on land and sea by Americans and French and surrenders at Yorktown, Virginia. -
Treaty of Paris
King George had declared the thirteen colonies "free and independent." France and Spain sign articles of peace with Britain. In Paris, delegates from the colonies signed the Treaty of Peace. -
Treaty of Hopewell
The United States signs the Treaty of Hopewell with the Cherokees. It lays out boundaries of the land that are supposed to belong to the Cherokees.
