-
Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. -
Period: to
french ans indian war
The French and Indian War pitted the colonies of British America against those of New France, each side supported by military units from the parent country and by American Indian allies -
sons of liberty
The Sons of Liberty was a secret revolutionary organization that was founded by Samuel Adams in the Thirteen American Colonies to advance the rights of the European colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It played a major role in most colonies in battling the Stamp Act in 1765. -
townshend act of 1767
the Townshend Acts were a series of measures, passed by the British Parliament in 1767, that taxed goods imported to the American colonies. Early attempts, such as the Stamp Act of 1765 which taxed colonists for every piece of paper they used were met with widespread protests in America -
Period: to
first continental congress meets
The first Continental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia. Carpenter's Hall was also the seat of the Pennsylvania Congress. All of the colonies except Georgia sent delegates. -
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. -
Period: to
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, kicked off the American Revolutionary War (1775-83). Tensions had been building for many years between residents of the 13 American colonies and the British authorities, particularly in Massachusetts. -
thomas paine's common sense published
Common Sense is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–1776 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Writing in clear and persuasive prose, Paine marshaled moral and political arguments to encourage common people in the Colonies to fight for egalitarian government -
Articles of Confederation created
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the first written constitution of the United States. Written in 1777 and stemming from wartime urgency, its progress was slowed by fears of central authority and extensive land claims by states. -
great compromise
The Connecticut Compromise was an agreement that large and small states reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under the United States Constitution.
