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Signing of the Treaty of Paris
Ending the French and Indian War. France had to leave and give up all of their North American land except New Orleans, in order to retain her Caribbean sugar islands. Britain gained all territory east of the Mississippi River; Spain kept territory west of the Mississippi, but exchanged East and West Florida for Cuba. -
Proclamation of 1763
King George III prohibited all settlement west of the Appalachian mountains because he didn't want to pay anymore money to defend the colonies. This offended the colonists who felt entitled to move west. -
Sugar Act Passed
The first attempt to finance the defense of the colonies by the British Government. In order to stop smuggling and to encourage the production of British rum, taxes on molasses were dropped; a tax was placed on foreign Madeira wine and colonial exports of iron, lumber and other goods had to pass first through Britain and British customs. -
Stamp Act Passed
Parliament taxed all legal documents, newspapers and pamphlets required to use watermarked, or 'stamped' paper. -
Quartering Act Passed
Colonial assemblies required to pay for supplies to British troops. -
Stamp Act Congress
Representatives from nine of the thirteen colonies declare the Stamp Act unconstitutional as it was a tax produced without their consent. -
Declaratory Act
The British repealed the Stamp Tax, but declares the right to tax colonists. -
Townshend Revenue Act
Duties on tea, glass, lead, paper and paint to help pay for the administration of the colonies, named after Charles Townshend. -
Boston Massacre
Colonists threw snowballs and bricks and rocks at British soldiers and they threatened to shoot and there was a fire down the street. Someone yelled "fire" and the British opened fire killing 5 people. -
Repeal of the Townshend Revenue Act
The Townshend Act is repealed by Parliament. -
Burning of the Gaspee
The revenue schooner Gaspee ran aground near Providence, Rhode Island and was burnt by locals angered by the enforcement of trade legislation. -
Tea Act
Parliament exempted the East India Company tea from import duties and allowed the Company to sell its tea directly to the colonies. Americans resented what they saw as an indirect tax. -
Boston Tea Party
The Sons and Daughters of Liberty dressed up as Indians and boarded a British ship full of tea and dumped all the tea into Boston Harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
Four laws which stripped Massachusetts of self-government and judicial independence following the Boston Tea Party. The colonies responded with a general boycott of British goods. -
First Continental Congress
The colonial delegates meet up to figure out how they will oppose the Intolerable Acts. They decided on boycotting British goods and created the Declaration of Rights. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
First battle of the Revolutionary War between British troops and the Minutemen, who had been warned of the attack by Paul Revere. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The first major battle of the American Revolution. Sir William Howe dislodged William Prescott's forces overlooking Boston at a cost of 1054 British deaths and 367 American deaths. -
Olive Branch Petition
Congress proposes a proposal asking for recognition of American rights, the ending of the Intolerable Acts in exchange for a cease fire. George III rejected the proposal and declared the colonies to be in open rebellion. -
Common Sense Published
Thomas Paine publishes a pamphlet called Common Sense anonymously in Pennsylvania. -
Declaration of Independence Signed
The Continental Congress gathered and they drafted, signed, and sent the Declaration of Independence to the king of England. -
Battle of Trenton
George Washington crossed the Delaware on Christmas Day 1776 and won two crucial battles of the American Revolution.
