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Jamestown
Jamestown was the first permenent English settlement. -
Virginia House of Burgesses
The house of Burgesses was established so colonists could make their own laws. It became the first representitive government in America. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Nathaniel Bacon led over 1,000 men from the western part of Virginia to Jamestown. -
Salem Witch Trials
Over 100 people (mostly women) were arrested and tried for witchcraft. 20 people were executed for witchcraft, most by hanging. Many of those accused are single, independent women who go against Patriarchal Puritan society. -
John Peter Zenger
John Peter Zenger established the first important victory for freedom of the press in the English colonies of North America. -
French & Indian War
When France’s expansion into the Ohio River valley brought repeated conflict with the claims of the British colonies, a series of battles led to the official British declaration of war in 1756. Also known as the seven years war. -
Proclamation of 1763
The proclamation forbade all settlers from settling past a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains. -
Stamp Act
The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. -
Quartering Act
Parliament passes the Quartering Act, outlining the locations and conditions in which British soldiers are to find room and board in the American colonies. -
Declatraory Act
The declaration stated that Parliament's authority was the same in America as in Britain and asserted Parliament's authority to pass laws that were binding on the American colonies. -
Boston Massacre
A squad of British soldiers came to support a sentry being heckled. Let loose a volley of shots. Three persons were killed immediately and two died later of their wounds. -
Tea Act
The act was not intended to raise revenue in the American colonies, and in fact imposed no new taxes. The tea was to be shipped directly to the colonies, and sold at a bargain price. The Townshend Duties were still in place, however, and the radical leaders in America found reason to believe that this act was a maneuver to buy popular support for the taxes already in force. -
Boston Tea Party
Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty boarded three ships in the Boston harbor and threw 342 chests of tea overboard. This resulted in the passage of the punitive Coercive Acts in 1774 and pushed the two sides closer to war. -
1st Continental Congress
The first Continental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia, from September 5, to October 26, 1774. Carpenter's Hall was also the seat of the Pennsylvania Congress. All of the colonies except Georgia sent delegates. These were elected by the people, by the colonial legislatures, or by the committees of correspondence of the respective colonies. -
2nd Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in the summer of 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. It succeeded the First Continental Congress. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was divided into five sections, including an introduction, a preamble, a body (divided into two sections) and a conclusion. It stated that America wanted Independence from the British government.
