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Jamestown (VA) Established
The first English settlement in the new world. King James granted permission for some English men and (few) women (Virginia Company) to travel to the Americas to establish a settlement. This new life offered the English an economic opportunity to profit from mineral wealth. -
Bacon's Rebellion 1675-1676
An armed rebellion against the rule of the Virginian governor, William Berkley. The rebellion was led by Nathaniel Bacon as many Virginian citizens followed his lead. Bacon inspired this rebellion because of his denied part in the fur trade with the Indians. -
Great Awakening 1730s -1740s
A religious revival (movement) in America. The movement pushed for people to work to have a better relationship with Jesus Christ and to obey Him. Tension between religious and political groups came to a stop when the Church of England was declared as the church/religion of the colonies. -
French and Indian War 1754 - 1763
A new world conflict that was also called the Seven Years War. The war included the English, French, and Indians. The French expanding into the Ohio River Valley created issues with the English who wanted to claim more land and the Indians who were currently living there and going to be forced out of their homes. -
Proclamation of 1763
A law passed by King George III that further prevented the colonies from obtaining independence. The law prohibited settlement past an imaginary line drawn across the Appalachian mountains. The proclamation was also passed in an effort to heal tension and conflict between the Colonists and the Native Americans. -
Boston Tea Party 1773
A political protest led by Samuel Adams and the Boston Sons of Liberty. The protesters boarded three ships in the Boston Harbor and threw 342 chests of tea overboard into the harbor. The parliaments' efforts to rescue the financially weak East India Company and the oppression the colonists were being put through were all factors leading to this event. -
Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts) 1774
A series of punitive laws enforced to punish the Massachusetts colony. These acts placed more restriction and oppression upon the colonists by the means of the British parliament. The actions taken during the Boston Tea Party convinced the king and parliament to put these laws into place. -
Declaration of Independence Signed 1776
A five-man committee was given the task to draft a document declaring the efforts and the purpose for them. Thomas Jefferson was the main writer of the document as he was deemed as the most eloquent. Jefferson wrote about how it was necessary for the colonies to gain their independence from Britain and the actions the King had taken regarding them qualified him as a tyrant. -
Articles of Confederation take effect 1781
The first written Constitution of the United States. The Articles were made in a desperate wartime effort in which states remained sovereign and independent with Congress serving as the last option concerning decisions and more. Congress was given authority and other times no authority with certain things which eventually led to an adjustment of the Articles and new laws enforced. -
Battle of Yorktown 1781
The British army settled down in Yorktown to recuperate while George Washington and the Colonists planned an assault. The final battle of the war which concluded with General Cornwallis’ surrender to American forces. The battle began September 28th, 1781 and officially ended on October 19th, 1781. -
Treaty of Paris 1783
Signed on February 3rd with 178 American delegates present- Franklin, Adams, and Jays- were instructed to follow France’s lead. Ended the Revolutionary War and granted independence to the Colonists. Persecution of loyalists was stopped and the colonies were forced to repay its debt to England.