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French and Indian War
a conflict in North America that was a part of a worldwide stuggle between France and Britain and that ended with the defeat of France and transfer of French Canada to Britain. -
Proclamation of 1763
established a Proclamation Line along the Appalachians which the colonists were not allowed to cross. -
Sugar Act
a trade law enacted by Parliament in 1764 in an attempt to reduce smuggling in the British colonies in North America. -
Stamp Act
This act imposed a tax on documents and printed items such as wills, newspapers, and playing cards. -
Sons of Liberty is formed
a secret resistance group organized by Boston shopkeepers, artisans and laborers to protest the law. -
Townshend Acts
named after Charles Townshed, taxed goods that were imported into the colony from Britain such as lead, glass, paint, and paper. -
Boston Massacre
a clash between British soldiers and Boston colonists in 1770, in which five of the colonists were killed. -
Tea Act
The act granted the company the right to sell tea to the colonies free of the taxes that colonial tea sellers had to pay. -
Boston Tea Party
a large group of Boston rebels disguised themselves as Native Americans and dumped 18,000 pounds of the East India Company's tea into the waters of Boston harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
One law shut down Boston harbor. Boston was under matial law. -
First Continental Congress meets
56 delegates met in Philidelphia and drew up a declaration of colonial rights. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The first battle of the Revolutionary war, lasted only 15 minutes. March of the redcoats quickly became a slaughter in Concord. Colonists had become enemies of Britain and now held Boston and its encampment of British troops. -
Second Continental Congress
Some delgates called for independence, while others argued for reconciliation with Britain. Agreed to recognize the colonial militia as the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
British general Thomas Gage decided to strike at militiamen on Breed's Hill, would prove to be the deadliest battle of the war. -
Olive Branch Petition
Congress sent the king the petition, urging a return to "the former harmony" between Britain and the colonies. -
Publication of Common Sense
A pamphlet by Thomas Paine that called for a separation of the colonies from Britain -
Declaration of Independence
document written by Thomas Jefferson in which the delegates of the Continental Congress declared the colonies' independence from Britain. -
Early British victories
The British seize New York City. The British sailed into New York harbor with a force of about 32,000 soldiers. The untrained and poorly equipped colonial troops soon retreated. -
Early Continental Victories
Militiamen and soldiers from the Continental Army gathered from all over New York and New England. American troops finally surrounded Burgoyne at Saratoga. -
Saratoga
Where Burgoyne was surrounded and surrendered. One of the most important events of the war. -
Friedrich von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette
Friedrich von Steuben - a Prussian captain helped to train the Continental Army
Marquis de Lafayette - lobbied France for French reinforcements in 1779 and led a command in Virginia in the last years of the war. -
Valley Forge
Washington and his Continental Army fought to stay alive in a winter camp in this city in Pennsylvania -
British victories in the South
a British expedition easily took Savannah, Georgia. In their greatest victory in the war, the British under Generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis captured Charles Town, South Carolina in May 1780. Cornwallis continued to conquer the South. -
British surrender at Yorktown
the armies of Lafayette and Wahington moved south toward Yorktown. By late September, about 17,000 French and American troops surrounded the British in Yorktown peninsula and began bombarding them day and night. -
Treaty of Paris
The delegates signed the treaty which confirmed U.S independence and set the boundaries of the new nation.
