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French and Indian War
The Treaty of Paris, signed on March 3rd, 1763, ended the French and Indian War. As a result of the war, France ceded all of its North American possessions east of the Mississippi River to Britain. This decision contributed to Britain's decision to impose new taxes on its American colonies. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act of 1765 was a British parliamentary attempt to raise revenue through direct taxation on a wide variety of transactions, including legal writs, newspaper advertisements, and ship bills of lading. Enraged colonists nullified the Stamp Act through outright refusal to use the stamps as well as by riots, stamp burning, and intimidation of colonial stamp distributors. -
Townshend Acts
In October 1768, Parliament sent two regiments of the British army to Boston in response to resistance to the Townshend Acts. The acts were resisted everywhere with verbal agitation and physical violence, deliberate evasion of duties, renewed nonimportation agreements among merchants, and overt acts of hostility toward British enforcement agents. -
Boston Massacre
In Boston, five people were killed by British troops who were being threatened by mob harassment. The soldiers were charged with murder and given a civilian trial, which John Adams conducted successfully. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a protest against both the tax on tea (taxation without representation) and the perceived monopoly of the East India Company, as well as a way to bring attention to the issues. -
Intolerable Acts
The British Parliament enacted four measures in response to colonial resistance during the winter of 1773–74: the Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government Act, Administration of Justice Act, and Quartering Act. The acts were intended to intimidate Massachusetts and isolate it from other colonies, but they ended up motivating the First Continental Congress -
First Continental Congress convenes
The First Continental Congress met to protest the Intolerable Acts, a series of laws passed in 1774 by the British Parliament that restricted the rights of colonists. Fifty-six delegates represented all the colonies except Georgia. -
Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga
In the summer of 1777, a British force under Gen. John Burgoyne captured Fort Ticonderoga before losing decisively at Bennington, Vermont (August 16), and Bemis Heights, New York (October 7). His forces depleted, Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga. -
Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” speech
In a famous speech, Patrick Henry urged Virginians to join him in opposition to the British. He asked them to fight for their liberty or die. -
Paul Revere’s Ride and the Battles of Lexington and Concord
On the night of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere rode from Charlestown to Lexington to warn that the British were marching from Boston to seize the colonial armory at Concord. While he was on his way, he met a group of local minutemen and others who were also out looking for British troops. Upon arriving in Lexington, Revere was greeted by a group of militiamen who outnumbered them 100-to-1 and forced them to retreat back to Boston. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Breed's Hill in Charlestown was the key site of combat in the Battle of Bunker Hill, which was part of the American siege of British-held Boston. Some 2,300 British troops cleared the hill of entrenched Americans, but at a cost of more than 40 percent of their assault force. The battle was a moral victory for the Americans. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Breed's Hill in Charlestown was the primary locus of combat in the misleadingly named Battle of Bunker Hill, which was part of the American siege of British-held Boston. The Americans eventually cleared the hill of the entrenched British troops, but at a tremendous cost: more than 40 percent of their assault force was lost during the battle. -
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense published
In 1775, the colonial conflict with the British was still a civil war; however, Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense put independence on the agenda. Paine's 50-page pamphlet sold more than 100,000 copies within a few months. His words were elegant and direct—they paved the way for the Declaration of Independence. -
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense published
In late 1775, the colonial conflict with Britain still looked like a civil war, not an effort to separate nations. However, the publication of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense pamphlet abruptly put independence on the agenda. Common Sense sold more than 100,000 copies within a few months. More than any other single publication, Common Sense paved the way for the Declaration of Independence. -
Declaration of Independence adopted
After the Second Continental Congress recommended that colonies form their own governments, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and revised it in committee. On July 2, 1776, the Congress voted for independence; on July 4 it adopted the Declaration of Independence. -
Declaration of Independence adopted
After the Congress declared that colonies should form their own governments, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. It was then revised in committee and approved by a vote of all thirteen colonies. On July 2, 1776, Congress voted for independence; on July 4 it adopted the Declaration of Independence. -
Washington crosses the Delaware
The Continental Army surprised the Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey and took 900 prisoners on Christmas night 1776. The American victory at Trenton and in the Battle of Princeton (January 3, 1777) aroused the new country and kept the struggle for independence alive. -
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Washington winters at Valley Forge
Following their defeat at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, Washington and 11,000 regulars took up winter quarters at Valley Forge in December 1777. Although its ranks were decimated by rampant disease, semi-starvation and bitter cold, the reorganized Continental Army emerged from Valley Forge as a well-disciplined and efficient fighting force. -
France and the United States form an alliance
The French had secretly assisted the Americans since 1776, but with the signing in Paris of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance, France formally declared war on Britain. France began preparing fleets and armies to enter the fight, but did not formally declare war on Britain until June 1778. -
John Paul Jones: “I have not yet begun to fight!”
The U.S. battleship the Bonhomme Richard was getting the worst of its battle with the British vessel HMS Serapis off Flamborough Head, England, when Commander John Paul Jones refused to surrender—declaring that he had not yet begun to fight! Jones ultimately triumphed and his ship was destroyed in the process, but he won a reputation as one of the most brilliant naval tacticians in American history. -
Benedict Arnold turns traitor
General Benedict Arnold conspired with the British to surrender the fort at West Point, New York, that he commanded. When John André, a British army officer with whom Arnold had negotiated, was hanged as a spy after he was captured and the plot revealed, Arnold took sanctuary with the British. -
Siege of Yorktown
In March 1781, Lord Cornwallis won a costly victory at Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina. After entering Virginia, he set up a base at Yorktown and began placing it under siege by George Washington's army and a force under the French Count de Rochambeau. Cornwallis surrendered his army of more than 7,000 men on October 19, 1781. -
Articles of Confederation ratified
The Articles of Confederation, a plan of government organization that served as a bridge between the initial government by the Continental Congress and the federal government provided under the U.S. Constitution of 1787, were written in 1776–77 and adopted by the Congress on November 15, 1777. However, ratification of the articles did not occur until March 1, 1781. -
Treaty of Paris ends the war
After the British defeat at Yorktown, the land battles in America largely died out—but the fighting continued at sea, chiefly between the British and America’s European allies. Although Britain recognized the independence of the United States with generous boundaries and retained Canada but ceded East and West Florida to Spain, it did not commit to ending its own “Continental System” trade restrictions on other European nations.