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Stamp Act
Official government stamp reguired. First internal tax paying for British protection. -
Townshend Act
Import duties on tea, lead, glass, and paint colors. Money used to pay royal governors. "No taxation without representation." -
Boston Massacre
Crowd of colonists threaten British soldiers. Britsh open fire killing 5 Americans. Parliament cancelled the Townshend duties. -
Boston Tea Party
British sold tea even more cheaply than smuggled tea. Colonist dressed up as Mohawks. Colonist boarded tea ships. Tea was dumped overboard. -
Intolerable Acts
Closed the Part of Boston. American town meetings banned. Britsh officials in trouble sent to Great Britain for trail. -
Second Continental Congress
Decided to officially seperate from Great Britain. Committee selected to draft the reasons for seperation. Thomas Jefferson selected to write the document. Met in Philadelphia. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Bunker Hill located near Boston. Red coats victorious in third charge. Americans ran out of ammunition. Moral victory for American Army. Costliest battle for British during the whole war. British casualties 1,054. American casualties 441. British began to get nervous. Washington took command of the army 2 weeks after this battle. -
Olive Branch Petition
A final attempt to avoid a full-on war between the Thirteen Colonies and Great Britain. -
Common Sense
A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–76 that inspired people in the Thirteen Colonies to declare and fight for independence from Great Britain in the summer of 1776. -
Decleration of Independence
Defined as the formal statement written by Thomas Jefferson declaring the freedom of the thirteen American colonies from Great Britain. An example of the Declaration of Independence was the document adopted at the Second Continental Congress. -
Battle at Trenton
Surprise attack the day after Christmas. Washington crossed the Delaware. Approximately 1,000 German soldiers fighting for the British were captured. -
Battle at Saratoga
The turning point of the war. The biggest American victory at the time. Approximately 5,000 British surrender to Washington. After the American victory, France and American changed its policies. February 1778 France and America formed an alliance. France declared war on Britain the next month. Spain declared war in 1779. -
Yorktown
French blockade aided this final battle. Escape from the British was impossible. British General Cornwallis faced American forces approximately twice his size. Approximately 8,700 British troops surrendered. Pinned in by American and French naval fleets. General Benjamin Lincoln accepted the surrender sword. -
Treaty of Paris
Ends the Revolutionary War. Set many geographic boarders including U.S. and Canada. Florida was returned to Spain. British merchants must be paid for lost items. Loyalists must be paid for lost property.
