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French-Indian War (1756- 1763)
England owed a lot of money and began to pass a series of "acts" taxes on people in the 13 colonies. France surrendered all its territories in mainland North America, effectively ending any foreign military threat to the British colonies there. -
Navigation Acts (1763)
Series of British laws that restricted the use of foreign shipping for trade only b/w England and its colonies. They mandated that imports be sourced only through britain. -
Quartering Act (1765)
During wartime, colonies provided troops with provisions, but during peacetime, debates arose. The Province of New York assembly passed an act for British regulars quartering. -
Stamp Act (1765-1766)
The British government imposed a direct tax on colonists, payable in hard-to-obtain British sterling, without their approval, and was represented by stamps on various documents and playing cards. -
Townshend Act (1767)
The Townshend Acts introduced taxes on various goods, leading to a reluctance among the colonies to import British goods. -
Boston Massacre (1770)
A group of unruly colonists taunted British soldiers with snowballs and rocks, leading to the deaths of five colonists, including Crispus Attucks. -
Boston Tea Party (1773)
On December 16, 1773, a group of disguised men, including some Indigenous Americans, boarded three East India Company ships and threw 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. -
Intolerable Acts (aka Coercive Acts) (1774)
The Intolerable Acts led to Boston's harbor closure, Massachusetts Bay Colony reorganization as a crown colony, and the quartering of troops in vacant buildings across British North America. -
Olive Branch Petition (1775)
The Olive Branch Petition, adopted by Congress on July 5, 1775, aimed to prevent formal war by highlighting British citizens' loyalty and rights as British citizens. -
Battle of Lexington & Concord (aka “The Shot Heard Around the World”) (1775)
The Battles of Lexington and Concord marked the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, resulting in a significant victory and widespread militia support for the anti-British cause. -
Second Continental Congress (1775)
The Continental delegates established a military force and elected George Washington as Commander-in-Chief. They drafted the Olive Branch Petition, which King George III rejected, leading to the American colonies' revolt. -
Declaration of Independence (1776)
The Declaration, adopted unanimously by 56 delegates at the Second Continental Congress, affirmed the Thirteen Colonies' independence from British colonial rule. -
Common Sense (1776)
Paine's anonymous publication on January 10, 1776, at the start of the American Revolution, compiled moral and political arguments to promote an egalitarian government among the Colonies. -
Articles of Confederation (1777)
The Articles of Confederation established the functions of the United States' national government after declaring independence from Great Britain. -
Daniel Shays’ Rebellion (1786-1787)
Shays's Rebellion was an armed uprising in Western Massachusetts and Worcester, sparked by a debt crisis and opposition to the state government's increased tax collection efforts. -
Constitutional Convention (aka Philadelphia Convention) (1787-1789)
The Philadelphia delegates, meeting from May 25 to September 17, 1787, rejected the Articles of Confederation and created the first written constitution for any nation.