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Paul Revere’s Ride
Paul Revere was a colonial Boston silversmith, industrialist, propagandist and patriot immortalized in the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem describing Revere’s midnight ride to warn the colonists about a British attack. Along with other riders including William Dawes, Revere gave the local militia a key advantage during the Battles of Lexington and Concord, sparking the Revolutionary War and eventual American independence. -history.com -
Boston Tea Party
disguised themselves in Native American garb, boarded the docked ships and threw 342 chests of tea into the water. -history.com -
Boston Massacre
It began as a street brawl between American colonists and a lone British soldier, but quickly escalated to a chaotic, bloody slaughter. The conflict energized anti-British sentiment and paved the way for the American Revolution. -history.com -
Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress, comprised of delegates from the colonies, met in 1774 in reaction to the Intolerable Acts, a series of measures imposed by the British government after the colonies resisted new tax. -history.com -
Passage of the Intolerable Acts
Upset by the Boston Tea Party and other blatant acts of destruction of British property by American colonists, the British Parliament enacts the Coercive Acts, to the outrage of American Patriots. -history.com -
Creation of the Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was the first formal statement by a nation’s people asserting their right to choose their own government. -history.com -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
Tensions had been building for many years between residents of the 13 American colonies and the British authorities, particularly in Massachusetts. On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord in order to seize an arms cache.. -hisotory.com -
Battle of Bunker Hill
early in the Revolutionary War, the British defeated the Americans. Despite their loss, the inexperienced colonial forces inflicted significant casualties against the enemy, and the battle provided them with an important confidence boost during the Siege of Boston. -history.com -
Battles of Saratoga
After a failed Canadian invasion known as the Battle of Quebec (December 1775 - May 1776) left much of the Continental Army beaten, sick and in retreat, the British hoped to quash rebellion once and for all by isolating the New England colonies from the other American colonies. -history.com -
Treaty of Paris
In the Treaty of Paris, the British Crown formally recognized American independence and ceded most of its territory east of the Mississippi River to the United States, doubling the size of the new nation and paving the way for westward expansion. -history.com