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Enlightenment
click here The enlightenment was a intellectual and culture movement throughout the 18th century. This movement shifted culture considerably, bringing it out of the control of the church, and entering into an age where people are free to think for themselves. -
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French and Indian war
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the war provided Great Britain enormous territorial gains in North America, but disputes over subsequent frontier policy and paying the war's expenses led to colonial discontent, and ultimately to the American Revolution. -
Sons of Liberty
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some of the organization’s roots can be traced to the Loyal Nine, a secretive Boston political organization whose members included Benjamin Edes and Samuel Adams. The Boston chapter of the Sons of Liberty often met under cover of darkness beneath the “Liberty Tree,” a stately elm tree in Hanover Square. -
Townshend Act of 1767
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To help pay the expenses involved in governing the American colonies, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, which initiated taxes on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770 when British soldiers in Boston opened fire on a group of American colonists killing five men. Prior to the Boston Massacre the British had instituted a number of new taxes on the American colonies including taxes on tea, glass, paper, paint, and lead. -
Boston tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. -
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First Continental Congress meets
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Peyton Randolph, a Virginian, is elected president. The Congress agrees to vote by colony, although Patrick Henry objects because he argues that members should vote not as New Yorkers or Virginians but as Americans. The Congress is not formed in order to revolt or to govern, but to act as a convention of ambassadors who will adopt resolutions and protests. -
Battles of Lexington & Concord
the famous ‘shot heard ‘round the world’, marked the start of the American War of Independence (1775-83). Politically disastrous for the British, it persuaded many Americans to take up arms and support the cause of independence. -
Olive Branch Petition sent to England
The Olive Branch Petition was a final attempt by the colonists to avoid going to war with Britain during the American Revolution. It was a document in which the colonists pledged their loyalty to the crown and asserted their rights as British citizens. -
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense published
Thomas Paine publishes his pamphlet “Common Sense,” setting forth his arguments in favor of American independence. -
Declaration of Independence.
By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain. The Declaration summarized the colonists' motivations for seeking independence. -
Articles of Confederation created
The Articles of Confederation created a national government composed of a Congress, which had the power to declare war, appoint military officers, sign treaties, make alliances, appoint foreign ambassadors, and manage relations with Indians. The Articles represented a victory for those who favored state sovereignty. -
3/5 Compromise
Three-fifths compromise, compromise agreement between delegates from the Northern and the Southern states at the United States Constitutional Convention (1787) that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted for determining direct taxation and representation in the House of Representatives. -
Period:Bill of Rights adopted
three-fourths of the states had ratified 10 of these, now known as the “Bill of Rights.” he Bill of Rights is the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. It spells out Americans' rights in relation to their government. It guarantees civil rights and liberties to the individual—like freedom of speech, press, and religion. -
Great Compromise
The Great Compromise was an agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 between delegates of the states with large and small populations that defined the structure of Congress and the number of representatives each state would have in Congress according to the United States Constitution
