-
Enlightenment
There was no single, unified Enlightenment. Instead, it is possible to speak of the French Enlightenment, the Scottish Enlightenment and the English, German, Swiss or American Enlightenment. Locke differed from David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau from Voltaire, Thomas Jefferson from Frederick the Great. Their differences and disagreements, though, emerged out of the common Enlightenment themes of rational questioning and belief in progress through dialogue. -
French & Indian War
The war changed economic, political, governmental, and social relations among the three European powers, their colonies, and the people who inhabited those territories. -
Sons of Liberty
The Boston chapter of the Sons of Liberty often met under cover of darkness beneath the “Liberty Tree,” a stately elm tree in Hanover Square. -
Stamp Act of 1765
Stamp Act 765 in U.S. colonial history, first British parliamentary attempt to raise revenue through direct taxation of all colonial commercial and legal papers, newspapers, pamphlets, cards, almanacs, and dice. -
Boston Massacre
Skirmishes between colonists and soldiers and between patriot colonists and colonists loyal to Britain loyalists were increasingly common. To protest taxes, patriots often vandalized stores selling British goods and intimidated store merchants and their customers. -
Boston Tea Party
The Americans were protesting both a tax on tea taxation without representation and the perceived monopoly of the East India Company. The Townshend Acts passed by Parliament in 1767 and imposing duties on various products imported into the British colonies had raised such a storm of colonial protest.. -
Second Continental Congress meets
He british government responded by increasing taxes on the American colonists, which drove the colonies toward greater unity. Americans throughout the 13 colonies united in opposition to the new system of imperial taxation initiated by the British government in 1765. -
Battles of Lexington & Concord
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. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The goal of this force was to prevent the 5,000 or more British troops stationed there under Gen. Thomas Gage from making further sallies and perhaps, when enough heavy artillery and ammunition had been collected, to drive them from the city. -
Olive Branch Petition sent to England
This belief changed after King George refused to so much as receive the Olive Branch Petition. Patriots had hoped that Parliament had curtailed colonial rights without the kings full knowledge, and that the petition would cause him to come to his subjects’ defense. When George III refused to read the petition, Patriots realized that Parliament was acting with royal knowledge and support. -
Bill of Rights adopted
After the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the Founding Fathers turned to the composition of the states’ and then the federal Constitution. Although a Bill of Rights to protect the citizens was not initially deemed important, the Constitution’s supporters realized it was crucial to achieving ratification. -
Battle of Trenton
The Hessian force at Trenton numbered 1,400 under the leadership of Colonel Johann Rall. Although Rall had received warnings of colonial movements, his men were exhausted and unprepared for Washington’s attack though rumors that they were drunk from Christmas celebrations are unfounded. -
Battle of Camden
Despite the fact that his men suffered from dysentery on the night of August 15, General Horatio Gates chose to engage the British on the morning of August 16. Although the Continentals outnumbered the British two to one, the encounter was a disaster. -
Battle of Yorktown
In the summer of 1780, 5,500 French troops, with Comte de Rochambeau at the helm, landed in Newport, Rhode Island to aid the Americans. At the time, British forces were fighting on two fronts, with General Henry Clinton occupying New York City, and Cornwallis, who had already captured Charleston and Savannah, in South Carolina. -
Treaty of Paris
The American Revolution officially comes to an end when representatives of the United States, Great Britain, Spain and France sign the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783. The signing signified America’s status as a free nation, as Britain formally recognized the independence of its 13 former American colonies, and the boundaries of the new republic were agreed upon: Florida north to the Great Lakes and the Atlantic coast west to the Mississippi River.