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George Washington
George Washington was commander in chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and served two terms as the first U.S. president, from 1789 to 1797. As a young man, he worked as a surveyor then fought in the French and Indian War. -
Thomas Jefferson
During the American Revolutionary War Jefferson served in the Virginia legislature and the Continental Congress and was governor of Virginia. He later served as U.S. minister to France and U.S. secretary of state, and was vice president under John Adams -
The French and Indian War
French and Indian War/Seven Years' War, 1754–1763. The French and Indian War was the North American conflict in a larger imperial war between Great Britain and France known as the Seven Years' War. The French and Indian War began in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. -
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was born January 11, 1755, Nevis, British West Indies—died July 12, 1804, New York, New York, U.S. New York delegate to the Constitutional Convention (1787), major author of the Federalist papers, and first secretary of the treasury of the United States. -
The Proclamation of 1763
In 1763, at the end of the French and Indian War, the British issued a proclamation,mainly intended to conciliate the Indians by checking the encroachment of settlers on their lands. In the centuries since the proclamation, it has become one of the cornerstones of Native American law in the United States and Canada. -
The sugar act
The Sugar Act, also known as the American Revenue Act or the American Duties Act, was a revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on 5 April 1764 The earlier Molasses which had imposed a tax of six pence per gallon of molasses, had never been effectively collected due to colonial evasion. -
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 -
The Tea Act
The Tea Act: The Catalyst of the Boston Tea Party. The Tea Act, passed by Parliament on May 10, 1773, granted the British East India Company Tea a monopoly on tea sales in the American colonies. The Tea Act was the final straw in a series of unpopular policies and taxes imposed by Britain on her American colonies. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. They boarded the ships and threw the chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. The British government responded harshly and the episode escalated into the American Revolution. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies who met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. It was called in response to the Intolerable Acts -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in the spring of 1775 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It succeeded the First Continental Congress. -
Lexington and concord
The battle of Lexington and Concord kicked off the revolutionary war. On the night off April 18, 1775 hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to a nearby concord in order to cease an arms cashe. -
The battle of bunker hill
On June 17, 1775, early in the Revolutionary War the British defeated the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill in Massachusetts. Despite their loss, the inexperienced colonial forces inflicted significant casualties against the enemy, and the battle provided them with an important confidence boost. -
Common Sense
On this day in 1776, writer Thomas Paine publishes his pamphlet “Common Sense,” setting forth his arguments in favor of American independence. Although little used today, pamphlets were an important medium for the spread of ideas in the 16th through 19th centuries. -
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. -
Washington Crossing the Delaware
George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, which occurred on the night of December 25 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, was the first move in a surprise attack organized by George Washington against the Hessian forces in Trenton -
The Articles of Confederation
Articles of Confederation, 1777–1781. The Articles of Confederation served as the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. Benjamin Franklin had drawn up a plan for “Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union.” -
The Valley Forge
What Happened at Valley Forge. While the British occupied Philadelphia, Washington and his army hunkered down for a harsh winter at Valley Forge. No battle was fought there, yet, it was the turning point of the Revolutionary War. -
Siege of Yorktown
In 1781, General George Washington, commanding a force of 17,000 French and Continental troops, begins the siege known as the Battle of Yorktown against British General Lord Charles Cornwallis and a contingent of 9,000 British troops at Yorktown, Virginia, in the most important battle of the Revolutionary war. -
The Treaty of Paris
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, ended the American Revolutionary War.
