American Revolution

John Locke

1632

https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/history/ideological-origins-of-american-revolution/people "In his enormously renowned political theory, Locke presented the idea of governmental checks and balances, which became a foundation for the U.S. Constitution. He also argued that revolution in some circumstances is not only a right but an obligation, which also clearly influenced the Founding Fathers."

Charles Montesquieu

1689

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/montesquieu/ "Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu, was a French social and political philosopher whose ideas about laws and government had a great influence on the leaders of the American Revolution and the Framers of the U.S. Constitution."

Sam Adams

1722

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/samuel-adams "Samuel Adams was a Founding Father of the United States and a political theorist who protested British taxation without representation, uniting the American colonies in the fight for independence during the Revolutionary War."

Martha Washington

1731

https://www.history.com/topics/first-ladies/martha-washington "Revolutionary War at the front. She helped manage and run her husband's estates. She raised her children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews; and for almost 40 years she was George Washington's worthy partner."

George Washington

1732

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/george-washington "George Washington was commander in chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War (1775-83) 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 (1754-63). During the American Revolution, he led the colonial forces to victory over the British and became a national hero."

Paul Revere

1735

https://www.biography.com/political-figure/paul-revere "Paul Revere was a silversmith and ardent colonialist. He took part in the Boston Tea Party and was the principal rider for Boston’s Committee of Safety. In that role, he devised a system of lanterns to warn the minutemen of a British invasion, setting up his famous ride on April 18, 1775"

John Adams

1735

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-adams "John Adams was a leader of the American Revolution and served as the second U.S. president from 1797 to 1801. The Massachusetts-born, Harvard-educated Adams began his career as a lawyer. During the 1770s, he was a delegate to the Continental Congress. In the 1780s, Adams served as a diplomat in Europe and helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris (1783), which officially ended the American Revolutionary War (1775-83)."

John Hancock

1737

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/john-hancock "John Hancock was a signer of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and a governor of Massachusetts. The colonial Massachusetts native was raised by his uncle, a wealthy Boston merchant. Hancock used his wealth and influence to aid the movement for American independence."

Benedict Arnold

1741

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/benedict-arnold "Benedict Arnold was an early American hero of the Revolutionary War (1775-83) who later became one of the most infamous traitors in U.S. history after he switched sides and fought for the British. ... Yet Arnold never received the recognition he thought he deserved."

Thomas Jefferson

1743

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/thomas-jefferson "Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and the third U.S. president, officially declared that the American Colonies were completely free of British authority and influence."

Abigail Adams

1744

http://www.ouramericanrevolution.org/index.cfm/people/view/pp0047 "Abigail Smith Adams wasn’t just the strongest female voice in the American Revolution; she was a key political advisor to her husband and became the First Lady to live in what would become the White House."

French and Indian War

1754

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1750-1775/french-indian-war "The French and Indian War began in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The war provided Great Britain enormous territorial gains in North America, but disputes over subsequent frontier policy and paying the war’s expenses led to colonial discontent, and ultimately to the American Revolution."

Alexander Hamilton

1757

http://www.ouramericanrevolution.org/index.cfm/people/view/pp0050 "Alexander Hamilton was an officer in the War for Independence, America’s first Secretary of the Treasury, and credited by many historians as the architect of its financial system. As a particular favorite of George Washington’s, Hamilton played a crucial role in the nation’s founding, starting with his youthful service in the Continental Army until his 1804 death in a duel with Aaron Burr."

Proclamation of 1763

1763

https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/1763-proclamation-of "It created a boundary, known as the proclamation line, separating the British colonies on the Atlantic coast from American Indian lands west of the Appalachian Mountains. In the centuries since the proclamation, it has become one of the cornerstones of Native American law in the United States and Canada."

Boston Tea Party

1773

https://study.com/academy/lesson/why-was-the-boston-tea-party-important-lesson-for-kids.html "This act, which came to be known as the Boston Tea Party, was important because it fueled the tension between Britain and America that ultimately led to the Revolutionary War, which started in 1775 and led to America winning its independence from Britain."

Minutemen

1774

https://www.ushistory.org/people/minutemen.htm "Unfortunately, one thing the Minutemen lacked was central leadership. This disadvantage would lead to their dissolution. In February of 1775, Concord was one of the first towns to comply with the order to create Minutemen companies out of the militia."

First Continental Congress

1774

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/the-continental-congress "From 1774 to 1789, the Continental Congress served as the government of the 13 American colonies and later the United States. The First Continental Congress, which was comprised of delegates from the colonies, met in 1774 in reaction to the Coercive Acts, a series of measures imposed by the British government on the colonies in response to their resistance to new taxes."

Second Continental Congress

1775

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/the-second-continental-congress/ "The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the 13 colonies that formed in Philadelphia in May 1775, soon after the launch of the American Revolutionary War. It succeeded in the First Continental Congress, which met between September and October of 1774."

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death Speech

1775

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/patrick-henry "George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and five of the six other Virginians who would later sign the Declaration of Independence were in attendance that day. Historians say that Henry’s “Liberty or Death” The speech helped convince those in attendance to begin preparing Virginia troops for war against Great Britain."

Lexington battle

1775

https://www.ducksters.com/history/battle_of_lexington_and_concord.php "The Battles of Lexington and Concord signaled the start of the American Revolutionary war on April 19, 1775. The British Army set out from Boston to capture rebel leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock in Lexington as well as to destroy the American’s store of weapons and ammunition in Concord. "

Declaration of Independence

1776

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1776-1783/declaration "The Declaration summarized the colonist’s motivations for seeking independence. By declaring themselves as an independent nation, the American colonists were able to confirm an official alliance with the Government of France and obtain French assistance in the war against Great Britain."

French Alliance

1776

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/revolut/jb_revolut_francoam_1.html "The second agreement, the Treaty of Alliance, made the fledgling United States and France allies against Great Britain in the Revolutionary War. The French decided to back the U.S. in its military efforts until the U.S. had full independence from Great Britain."

Hessians

1776

https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/hessians/ Rather, they were generally excellent soldiers. The term Hessians refers to the approximately 30,000 German troops hired by the British to help fight during the American Revolution. This allowed the state’s prince, the Landgraf Friedrich II, to keep taxes low and public spending high.

Treaty of Paris

1783

https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/ar/14313.htm "The Treaty of Paris was signed by U.S. and British Representatives on September 3, 1783, ending the War of the American Revolution. Based on a 1782 preliminary treaty, the agreement recognized the U.S. independence and granted the U.S. significant western territory."

US Constitution signed

1787

https://www.history.com/topics/united-states-constitution/constitution The Constitution of the United States established America’s national government and fundamental laws and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens.