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American Revolution Begins
The American Revolution—also called the U.S. War of Independence—was the insurrection fought between 1775 and 1783 through which 13 of Great Britain's North American colonies threw off British rule to establish the sovereign United States of America, founded with the Declaration of Independence in 1776. -
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War was the North American conflict in a larger imperial war between Great Britain and France known as the Seven Years' War. ... British colonial forces, led by Lieutenant Colonel George Washington, attempted to expel the French in 1754, but were outnumbered and defeated by the French. -
Virginia becomes a Royal Colony
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Thomas Jefferson writes the Declaration of Independence
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Virginia House of Burgessess first meets
The House of Burgesses /ˈbɜːrdʒəsɪz/ was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been established in 1619, became a bicameral institution. -
British General Cornwalis surrenders to George Washington
Cornwallis had marched his army into the Virginia port town earlier that summer expecting to meet British ships sent from New York. ... Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown effectively ended the Revolutionary War. Lacking the financial resources to raise a new army, the British government appealed to the Americans for peace.
