American Revolution

  • The Stamp Act

    Ratified by the British parliament under King George lll. It imposed a tax on all papers and official documents in the American colonies, though not in England.
  • The Boston Massacre

    After months of tension due to occupation and taxation, Bostonians and Redcoats clashed in the streets of Boston.
  • Thomas Paine's Common Sense

    Pamphlet inspired by American colonists to declare independence from England written by Thomas Paine.
  • Declaration of Independence

    The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. It was engrossed on parchment and on August 2, 1776 began signing it.
  • Battle of Valley Forge

    Valley Forge was the site of the 1777-78 winter encampment of the Continental Army. The park commemorates the sacrifice and perseverance of the Revolutionary War generation.
  • Battle of Yorktown

    General Washington, allied with American and French forces, besieged General Charles Lord Cornwallis British Army.
  • Battle of Lexington

    British marched into Lexington and Concord intending to suppress the possibility of rebellion by seizing weapons from the colonist. That sparked the first battle of the Revolutionary War.