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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. -
The 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. -
The Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest in reaction to changes in taxation by the British to the detriment of colonial goods. -
The 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. On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord in order to seize an arms cache. -
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence, 1776. 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. -
The Battle of Princeton
The significance of the conflict was that the British lost control of New Jersey and retreated to New York. Following the victories at the Battles of Trenton and Princeton the Americans believed that they could win the war. -
The Treaty of Alliance
The Treaty of Alliance with France was signed on February 6, 1778, creating a military alliance between the United States and France against Great Britain. -
The Battle of Camden
The Battle of Camden in the American Revolution, British victory in South Carolina, one of the most crushing defeats ever inflicted upon an American army. British subjugation of rebel American colonies in the south depended on control of outposts and supply depots. -
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. -
The Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was the official peace treaty between the United States and Britain that ended the American Revolutionary War.
