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French and Indian War
(Seven Years’ War) (1754–1763): Nine-year war between the British and the French in North America. It resulted in the expulsion of the French from the North American mainland and helped spark the Seven Years’ War in Europe. -
Treaty of Paris, 1763
The Treaty of Paris, also known as the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763 by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement, after Great Britain's victory over France and Spain during the Seven Years' War. -
Proclamation of 1763
Decree issued by Parliament in the wake of Pontiac’s uprising, prohibiting settlement beyond the Appalachians. Contributed to rising resentment of British rule in the American colonies. -
Sugar Act
Duty on imported sugar from the West Indies. It was the first tax levied on the colonists by the crown and was lowered substantially in response to widespread protests. -
Stamp Act
Widely unpopular tax on an array of paper goods, repealed in 1766 after mass protests erupted across the colonies. Colonists developed the principle of “no taxation without representation” which questioned Parliament’s authority over the colonies and laid the foundation for future revolutionary claims. -
Quartering Act
Required colonies to provide food and quar- ters for British troops. Many colonists resented the act, which they perceived as an encroachment on their rights. -
Townshend Acts
External, or indirect, levies on glass, white lead, paper, paint and tea, the proceeds of which were used to pay colonial governors, who had previously been paid directly by colonial assemblies. Sparked another round of protests in the colonies. -
Boston Massacre
Clash between unruly Bostonian protestors and locally-stationed British redcoats, who fired on the jeering crowd, killing or wounding eleven citizens. -
Tea Act
Granted the British East India Company Tea a monopoly on tea sales in the American colonies. -
Boston Tea Party
Rowdy protest against the British East India Company’s newly acquired monopoly on the tea trade. Colonists, disguised as Indians, dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston harbor, prompting harsh sanctions from the British Parliament. -
Intolerable Acts
Series of punitive measures passed in retaliation for the Boston Tea Party, closing the Port of Boston, revoking a number of rights in the Massachusetts colonial charter, and expanding the Quartering Act to allow for the lodging of soldiers in private homes. In response, colonists convened the First Continental Congress and called for a complete boycott of British goods. -
1st Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies that met on September 5 to October 26, 1774 at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution to craft a response to the Intolerable Acts. Delegates established Association, which called for a complete boycott of British goods. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
First battles of the Revolutionary War, fought outside of Boston. The colonial militia successfully defended their stores of munitions, forcing the British to retreat to Boston. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Fought on the outskirts of Boston, on Breed’s Hill, the battle ended in the colonial militia’s retreat, though at a heavy cost to the British. -
2nd Continental Congress
Representative body of delegates from all thirteen colonies. Drafted the Declaration of Independence and managed the colonial war effort. -
Olive Branch Petition
Conciliatory measure adopted by the Continental Congress, professing American loyalty and seeking an end to the hostilities. King George rejected the petition and pro- claimed the colonies in rebellion. -
Common Sense
Thomas Paine’s pamphlet urging the colonies to declare independence and establish a republican government. The widely-read pamphlet helped convince colonists to support the Revolution. -
Declaratory Act
Passed alongside the repeal of the Stamp Act, it reaffirmed Parliament’s unqualified sovereignty over the North American colonies. -
Declaration of Independence
Formal pronouncement of independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson and approved by Congress. The declaration allowed Americans to appeal for foreign aid and served as an inspiration for later revolutionary movements worldwide. -
Battle of Saratoga
Decisive colonial victory in upstate New York, which helped secure French support for the Revolutionary cause. -
Battle of Yorktown
George Washington, with the aid of the French Army, besieged Cornwallis at Yorktown, while the French naval fleet prevented British reinforcements from coming ashore. Cornwallis surrendered, dealing a heavy blow to the British war effort and paving the way for an eventual peace. -
Treaty of Paris, 1783
Peace treaty signed by Britain and the United States ending the Revolutionary War. The British formally recognized American independence and ceded territory east of the Mississippi while the Americans, in turn, promised to restore Loyalist property and repay debts to British creditors.
