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French-Indian War (1757-1763)
The French and Indian War was a theatre of the Seven Years' War, which dented the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. -
Navigation Acts (1763)
This was an act that directed the routes of ships between other countries and with its own colonies. This was used to regulate trade activities. -
Stamp Act (1765)
This was an act put on all paper goods in the colonies. This act came from the King and led to many rebellious acts from the colonists. -
Quartering Act (1765)
This was an act put on the colonists that said that they must give housing to the British Soldiers who needed it in the colonies. -
Townshend Acts (1767)
This act put taxes on glass, paper, lead, paint, and tea. This enraged the colonists and led to many protests. -
Boston Massacre (1770)
The Boston Massacre was an event when a group of British soldiers shot into a crowd of protesting colonists. Word of this traveled very quickly throughout the colonies. -
Boston Tea Party (1773)
The Boston Tea Party was an event where many colonists boarded a British ship and threw many gallons of tea into the Boston Harbor. They did this because they felt as though they were being unfairly taxed. This was their way of showing that they weren't going to take being treated wrong. -
Intolerable Acts (1774)
The Intolerable Acts were a series of acts imposed on the colonist as punishment for the Boston Tea Party. These included closing the Boston Harbor. This was supposed to stay closed until the colonists paid for the tea they dumped into the harbor. Others laws came later that were included in the Intolerable Acts. -
The Battle of Lexington & Concord (1775)
The Battle of Lexington & Concord is generally known as the "Shot Heard Around The World". This is because it was the battle that really sparked the American Revolutionary War. -
Second Continental Congress (1775)
The Second Continental Congress was a group of political leaders from each colony coming up with a gameplan on how to defeat the British in the war that was unfolding around them. They talked about strategy, armies, appointing diplomats, and even wrote petitions. -
Olive Branch Petition (1775)
The Olive Branch Petition was the final effort of the Second Continental Congress to try to get King George III to respond to the problems and concerns of the 13 colonies. -
Common Sense (1776)
The Common Sense was a 47 page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. It talked about reasons why Britain should not have rule over the colonies and advocated for Independence from England. -
Declaration of Independence (1776)
The Declaration of Independence was a document written do establish the colonies independence from England. It also discussed how the colonies would be governed in the future. -
Articles of Confederation (1777)
This was an agreement amongst the 13 colonies that they would become one and govern through one body. -
Daniel Shay's Rebellion (1786)
This was an uprising in western Massachusetts. This happened as a result of high taxes and bad economic conditions. -
Constitutional Convention (May 25, 1787-September 17, 1787)
This meeting was called to order to revise the original Articles of Confederation because the previous government was not working as successfully as they had hoped it would.