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Enlightenment
The age of enlightenment was an intellectual movement that dominated the of ideas in Europe in the 17th and 18th century. -
French and indian war
The French and Indian War began in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The war provided Great Britain enormous territorial gains in North America, but disputes over subsequent frontier policy and paying the war's expenses led to colonial discontent, and ultimately to the American Revolution. -
Townshend Act of 1767
The Townshend Acts passed in 1767 and 1768, were designed to raise revenue for the British Empire by taxing its North American colonies. They were met with widespread protest in the colonies especially among merchants in Boston. -
Boston massacre
The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770 when British soldiers in Boston opened fire on a group of American colonists killing five men. Prior to the Boston Massacre the British had instituted a number of new taxes on the American colonies including taxes on tea, glass, paper, paint, and lead. -
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. -
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First Contenintal Congress meets
The first Continental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia. 13 colonies except for Georgia which was fighting a Native American uprising and was dependent on the British for military supplies met in Philadelphia as the First Continental Congress to organize colonial resistance to Parliament's Coercive Acts. -
Battle of lexington and concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, kicked off the American Revolutionary War (1775-83). ... A confrontation on the Lexington town green started off the fighting, and soon the British were hastily retreating under intense fire. -
Second Continental Congress meets
The Second Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from the 13 Colonies in America which united in the American Revolutionary War. -
Thomas Paine's common sense published
Common Sense is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775 to 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. -
Declaration of independence adopted
By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the continental congress on July 4 1776 the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to great britain. The declaration summarized the colonists motivations for seeking independence. -
Battle of york town
Significance of the Battle of Yorktown: The significance of the conflict was that Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington as French and American forces trapped the British at Yorktown. The British surrender at the Battle of Yorktown ended the American Revolutionary War. -
treaty of paris signed
The Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States of America on September 3, 1783, officially ending the American Revolutionary War. -
Great Compromise
The Great Compromise started with a heated dispute during the 1787 Constitutional Convention. States with larger populations wanted congressional representation based on population while smaller states demanded equal representation. -
Bill of rights adopted
In response to arbitrary actions of Charles I, Parliament in 1628 adopted the Petition of Right, condemning unlawful imprisonments and also providing that there should be no tax “without common consent of parliament.” In 1689, capping the Glorious Revolution
