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Seven Years' War (French and Indian War) ends
The Seven Years' War was a major military conflict that lasted from 1756 until the conclusion of the treaties of Paris (signed on 10 February 1763) and Hubertusburg (signed on 15 February 1763). It involved all of the major European powers of the period. Because of its global nature, it has been described as the "first World War".[1] It resulted in some 900,000 to 1,400,000 deaths and significant changes in the balance of power and territories of several of the participants. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act (4 Geo. III c. 15), also known as the American Revenue Act or the American Duties Act, was a revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on April 5, 1764.[1] The preamble to the act stated: "it is expedient that new provisions and regulations should be established for improving the revenue of this Kingdom ... and ... it is just and necessary that a revenue should be raised ... for defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the same."[2] The earl -
Quartering Act
The British further angered American colonists with the Quartering Act, which required the colonies to provide barracks and supplies to British troops. The Quartering Act was passed in June 2, 1765, against the wishes of the colonist. -
Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act Congress was a meeting on October 19, 1765 in New York City of representatives from among the Thirteen Colonies. They discussed and acted upon the Stamp Act recently passed by the governing Parliament of Great Britain overseas, which did not include any representatives from the colonies. Meeting in the building that would become Federal Hall, the Congress consisted of delegates from 9 of the 13 colonies. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was sponsored by George Grenville and it took effect on November 1, 1765. It was the first direct tax imposed by Britain on its American colonies. The Act was created to help cover the cost of maintaining troops in the colonies. -
DeclaratoryAct
The Declaratory Act was a declaration by the British Parliament in 1766 which accompanied the repeal of the Stamp Act. It stated that Parliament's authority was the same in America as in Britain and asserted Parliament's authority to make laws binding on the American colonies. -
Townshend Act
The Townshend Acts were a series of laws passed beginning in 1767 by the Parliament of Great Britain relating to the British colonies in North America. The acts are named for Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who proposed the program. Historians vary slightly in which acts they include under the heading "Townshend Acts", but five laws are frequently mentioned: the Revenue Act of 1767, the Indemnity Act, the Commissioners of Customs Act, the Vice Admiralty Court Act, and the New -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was the killing of five colonists by British regulars on March 5, 1770. It was the culmination of tensions in the American colonies that had been growing since Royal troops first appeared in Massachusetts in October 1768 to enforce the heavy tax burden imposed by the Townshend Acts. -
All Townshend Acts except tea tax repealed
(1767) British parliamentary measures to tax the American colonists. The series of four acts imposed duties on imports of lead, paint, glass, paper, and tea and established a board of customs commissioners to enforce collection. Colonial quartering of British troops was also revived. The colonists protested the new measures as taxation without representation and resisted compliance. Nonimportation agreements among colonial merchants cut British imports in half by 1769. In 1770 all the duties exc -
Committees of correspondence formed
he Committees of Correspondence were shadow governments organized by the Patriot leaders of the Thirteen Colonies on the eve of American Revolution. They coordinated responses to Britain and shared their plans; by 1774-75 they had emerged as shadow governments, superseding the colonial legislature and royal officials. The Maryland Committee of Correspondence was instrumental in setting up the First Continental Congress, which met in Philadelphia. These served an important role in the Revolution, -
British East India Company granted tea monopoly
The East India Company (also known as the East India Trading Company, English East India Company,[1] and, after the Treaty of Union, the British East India Company)[2] was an early English joint-stock company[3] that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China. The oldest among several similarly formed European East India Companies, the Company was granted an English Royal Charter, under the name Governor a -
Governor Hutchinson's actions provoke BostonTea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a direct action by colonists in Boston, a town in the British colony of Massachusetts, against the British government. On December 16, 1773, after officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor. The incident remains an iconic event of American history, and other political protests often refer to it. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen North American colonies that met on September 5, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. Called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts (also known as Intolerable Acts by the Colonial Americans) by the British Parliament, the Congress was attended by 56 members appointed by the legislatures of twelve of the Thirteen Colonies, the exception being the -
"Intolerable Acts"
The Intolerable Acts or the Coercive Acts are names used to describe a series of five laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 relating to Britain's colonies in North America. The acts triggered outrage and resistance in the Thirteen Colonies that later became the United States, and were important developments in the growth of the American Revolution. -
The Association boycotts British goods
The Continental Association, often known simply as the "Association", was a system created by the First Continental Congress in 1774 for implementing a trade boycott with Great Britain. Congress hoped that by imposing economic sanctions, Great Britain would be pressured to redress the grievances of the colonies, and in particular repeal the Intolerable Acts passed by the British Parliament. The Association aimed to alter Britain's policies towards the colonies without severing allegiance -
Quebec Act
The Quebec Act of 1774 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain (citation 14 Geo. III c. 83) setting procedures of governance in the Province of Quebec. The principal components of the act were:
The province's territory was expanded to take over part of the Indian Reserve, including much of what is now southern Ontario, plus Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota.
The oath of allegiance was replaced with one that no longer made reference to the Protestant faith. -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War.[9][10] They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge, near Boston. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in the mainland of British North America. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War.[9][10] They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge, near Boston. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in the mainland of British North America. -
British troops occupy Boston
The Boston campaign was the opening campaign of the American Revolutionary War. The campaign was primarily concerned with the formation of American colonial irregular militia units, and their transformation into a unified Continental Army. The campaign's military conflicts started with the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, in which colonial militias mustered to defend against the seizure of military stores in Concord, Massachusetts by British Army regulars. Some British units w -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that met beginning on May 10, 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. It succeeded the First Continental Congress, which met briefly during 1774, also in Philadelphia. The second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776. By raisi -
Americans capture British garrisons atTiconderoga and Crown Point
The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga occurred during the American Revolutionary War on May 10, 1775, when a small force of Green Mountain Boys led by Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold overcame a small British garrison at the fort and looted the personal belongings of the garrison. Cannons and other armaments from the fort were transported to Boston and used to fortify Dorchester Heights and break the standoff at the Siege of Boston. -
The Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill, during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after the adjacent Bunker Hill, which was peripherally involved in the battle and was the original objective of both colonial and British troops, and is occasionally referred to as the "Battle of Breed's Hill." -
Failed invasion of Canada
The Invasion of Canada in 1775 was the first major military initiative by the newly-formed Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. The objective of the campaign was to gain military control of the British Province of Quebec, and convince the French-speaking Canadiens to join the revolution on the side of the Thirteen Colonies. One expedition left Fort Ticonderoga under Richard Montgomery, besieged and captured Fort St. Johns, and very nearly captured British General Guy Carleton -
King George III formally proclaims coloniesin rebellion
George III (George William Frederick; 1738 – 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death. He was concurrently Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and prince-elector of Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire until his promotion to King of Hanover on 12 October 1814. He was the third British monarch of the House of Hanover, but unlike h -
Declaration of Independence
The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary -
Paine's Common Sense
Published in 1776, Common Sense challenged the authority of the British government and the royal monarchy. The plain language that Paine used spoke to the common people of America and was the first work to openly ask for independence from Great Britain. -
Battle of Trenton
Size of the armies: 2,400 American troops with 18 guns. 1,400 Hessians with 6 light guns.Uniforms, arms and equipment: The British 16th Ligh Dragoons wore red coats and leather crested helmets. The German infantry wore blue coats and retained the Prussian style grenadier mitre with brass front plate. The Americans dressed as best they could. Increasingly as the war progressed regular infantry regiments of the Continental Army wore blue uniform coats but the militia continued in rough clothing. -
Battle of Brandywine
The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of the Brandywine or the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was a battle of the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War fought on September 11, 1777. It was fought in the area surrounding Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and the Brandywine River. The battle, which was a decisive victory for the British, left Philadelphia, the revolutionary capital, undefended. The British captured the city on September 26, beginning an occupation that would la -
Battle of Brandywine11 Sep 1777
The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of the Brandywine or the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was a battle of the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War fought on September 11, 1777. It was fought in the area surrounding Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and the Brandywine River. The battle, which was a decisive victory for the British, left Philadelphia, the revolutionary capital, undefended. The British captured the city on September 26, beginning an occupation that would l -
Battle of Germantown
The Battle of Germantown, a battle in the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War, was fought on October 4, 1777, at Germantown, Pennsylvania. The British victory in this battle ensured that Philadelphia, the capital of the self-proclaimed United States of America, would remain in British hands throughout the winter of 1777–1778. -
Formation of French-American alliance
The Treaty of Alliance, also called The Treaty of Alliance with France, was a defensive alliance between France and the United States of America, formed in the midst of the American Revolutionary War, which promised military support in case of attack by British forces indefinitely into the future. Delegates of King Louis XVI of France and the Second Continental Congress, who represented the United States government at this time, the treaty along with The Franco-American Treaty of Amity and Comm -
Battle of Monmouth
The Battle of Monmouth (pronounced /ˈmɒnməθ/) was an American Revolutionary War battle fought on June 28, 1778 in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The Continental Army under General George Washington attacked the rear of the British Army column commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton as they left Monmouth Court House (modern Freehold Borough). -
Battle of Cowpens
The Battle of Cowpens (January 17, 1781) was a decisive victory by American Revolutionary forces under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan, in the Southern campaign of the American Revolutionary War. It was a turning point in the reconquest of South Carolina from the British. -
Battle of King's Mountairi
The Battle of Kings Mountain was a decisive Patriot victory in the Southern campaign of the American Revolutionary War that took place on October 7, 1780. Frontier militia loyal to the United States overwhelmed the Loyalist American militia led by British Major Patrick Ferguson of the 71st Foot. In The Winning of the West, Theodore Roosevelt wrote of Kings Mountain, "This brilliant victory marked the turning point of the American Revolution." Thomas Jefferson called it, "The turn of the tide of -
French and Americans force Cornwallisto surrender at Yorktown
The Siege of Yorktown or Battle of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by a combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis. It proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in North America, as the surrender of Cornwallis' army prompted the British government eventually to negotiate an end to the conflict. -
Treaty ofParis
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ratified by the Congress of the Confederation on January 14, 1784, and by the King of Great Britain on April 9, 1784 (the ratification documents were exchanged in Paris on May 12, 1784), formally ended the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United States of America, which had rebelled against British rule. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of -
North's ministry collapses in Britain
In 1770 the king was lucky in finding a minister, Lord North, with the power to cajole the Commons. North’s policy of letting sleeping dogs lie lulled the suspicions of independent rural members who were always ready to imagine that the executive was growing too strong. As a result, 12 years of stable government followed a decade of disturbance. -
Treaty of Fort Stanwix
Following the American Revolution, the Confederation Congress needed money. The Articles of Confederation did not permit the government to easily tax its citizens. To raise funds to operate the government, the Confederation Congress hoped to sell land in the Ohio Country to the American people. Government officials realized that Native Americans controlled the land. Before any sales could take place, the United States would have to convince the natives to give
