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Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers. Several colonists were killed and this led to a campaign by speech-writers to rouse the ire of the citizenry. -
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. -
Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord signaled the start of the American Revolutionary war on April 19, 1775. The British Army set out from Boston to capture rebel leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock in Lexington as well as to destroy the Americans store of weapons and ammunition in Concord. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Massachusetts | Jun 17, 1775. The American patriots were defeated at the Battle of Bunker Hill, but they proved they could hold their own against the superior British Army. The fierce fight confirmed that any reconciliation between England and her American colonies was no longer possible. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was designed to multitask. Its goals were to rally the troops, win foreign allies, and to announce the creation of a new country. The introductory sentence states the Declaration's main purpose, to explain the colonists' right to revolution. -
British capture New York
Washington was correct that the British intended to capture New York City and gain control of the Hudson River, a victory that would divide the rebellious colonies in half. -
Battle of Trenton
In the Battle of Trenton, Washington defeated a formidable garrison of Hessian mercenaries before withdrawing. A week later he returned to Trenton to lure British forces south, then executed a daring night march to capture Princeton on January 3. -
Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga was a turning point in the American Revolution. It gave the Patriots a major morale boost and persuaded the French, Spanish and Dutch to join their cause against a mutual rival. -
Valley Forge
Valley Forge was where the American Continental Army made camp during the winter of 1777-1778. It was here that the American forces became a true fighting unit The men were hungry and tired after a string of losing battles that had resulted in the British capture of the patriot capital, Philadelphia, earlier in the fall. The defeats had led some members of the Continental Congress to want to replace Washington, believing he was incompetent. -
Battle of Monmouth
The Battle of Monmouth was a American Victory. This greatly increased American morale and strengthened Washington's position as commander of the army. SIGNIFICANCE Monmouth was the biggest and longest one day battle of the war. -
British capture of Savannah
Capture of Savannah, happened on 29 December 1778. A Stalemate in their war with the Americans in the north and concern over French attacks against British-held Caribbean islands caused the British to focus on securing American colonies in the south. -
British Capture of Charles Town
In March 1780, Clinton, Prevost, and General Charles Lord Cornwallis, whose force had accompanied Clinton from New York, descended on Charleston. By early April, the combined British forces had successfully trapped the Americans in the beleaguered city. -
Battle of Yorktown
Siege of Yorktown, (September 28–October 19, 1781), joint Franco-American land and sea campaign that entrapped a major British army on a peninsula at Yorktown, Virginia, and forced its surrender. The siege virtually ended military operations in the American Revolution