-
Stamp Act
This was the first direct tax on the colonists by the British. All paper goods required the stamps to be legally sold. It was made by the British to help pay off the war. -
Protest of the Stamp Act
Colonists refused to pay the Stamp Tax. The phrase "No Taxation without Representation" became very popular during this time. Tax collectors were assaulted and even murdered. -
Gaspee Affair
Led by Johm Brown, a group of men burnt down a British ship on its way to Providence, RI. -
Committee of Correspondence Established in MA
Samuel Adams and Joseph Warren establish this committee as a result of the Gaspee Affair, and became a model for other committees established. -
Boston Tea Party
While dressed up as Mohawk Indians, colonists dump three ships' worth of British tea into the Boston Harbor. -
Coercive Acts
Also known as the Intolerable Acts, they were passed by the British government in response to the Boston Tea Party to make an example of the people from Massachusetts, and crush their resistance. -
Quebec Act
Considered the fifth act of the Intolerable Acts, it limited the colonies' expansion to the west by granting most of Ohio to Quebec. -
First Continental Congress
Each colony sent a representative (except Georgia, they were looking for British help) to meet up in an assembly to decide on how they would unify against the British. -
George Washington appointed General
George Washington is rewarded with the position of General by Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia. -
Paul Revere's Ride
Between 9 and 10 pm, Paul Revere rode through modern-day Somerville, Medford, and Arlington to warn colonists that the king's troops were about to embark in boats from Boston bound for Cambridge and the road to Lexington and Concord in order to capture Samuel Adams and John Hancock -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The first armed conflict between Britain and the colonists. The first shot of these battles was known as "the shot heard 'round the world". These battles were won by the militiamen of the colonists. -
Second Continental Congress
Met in Philadelphia, it was a meeting of the colonies that lasted for more than a year and ended in the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Battle that was a victory for the British and was where the colonists had their most significant losses. Though it was a British victory, they suffered heavy losses and demonstrated that the inexperienced colonial forces could stand up to the experienced British military -
Olive Branch Petition
Adopted by the Continental Congress in hopes of avoiding a full-scale war with Britain. It failed because an intercepted letter by John Adams stating that war was inevitable arrived in Britain about the same time as the Petition. -
King issues Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition
This declared the colonies to be in a state of rebellion and everybody should oppose them. This rejection proved to the colonists that they could have either complete independence or complete submission, not a little bit of both. -
Common Sense Published
Written as a pamphlet, it was the most popular written work sold during the American Revolutions about why Britain shouldn't be able to rule the colonies. Popular points include (but are not limited to): it was absurd for an island to rule a continent, the Puritans came to the colonies in order to escape British persecution, and even if Britain was the "Mother Country" of the colonies then it was a horrible mother, brutally beating it's children like that. -
British Evacuate Boston
Led by George Washington, British General William Howe had to choose between attack and retreat, and chose to retreat, giving George Washington his first military victory of the revolution and liberating Boston. -
Writing of the Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson writes the Declaration of Independence. -
Declaration of Independence adopted by Continental Congress
Knowing it will start a war between the colonists and England, the Continental Congress declares its independence
