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Albany Plan of Union
Ben Franklin's plan for uniting the colonies in response to French attacks on the frontier. -
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French & Indian War
The French & Indian War started as a struggle between the French & British over lands in western Pennsylvania & Ohio. Great Britain won the war in 1763 & gained complete control of the eastern third of the continent. -
George III becomes king of Great Britain
George III had different ideas about how the colonies should be goverened. -
Stamp Ac t
The Stamp Act of 1765 imposed the first direct tax on the colonists. It required them to pay a tax on legal documents, pamphlets, newspapers, and even dice & playing cards. -
Stamp Act Congress
In 1765 nine colonies sent delegates to a meeting in New York called the Stamp Act Congress. This was the first meeting organized by the colonies to protest King George's actions. Delegates to the Congress sent a petition to the king, arguing that only colonial legislatures could impose direct taxes such as the Stamp Act. -
Boston Tea Party
A group of colonists, dressed as Mohawk Indians, dumped 342 chests of British tea into Boston Harbor. -
Coercive Acts
The Coercive Acts withdrew the right of the Massachusetts colony to govern itself. -
Committees of Correspondence
By 1773, organizations called committees of correspondence were urging resistance to the British. These committees consisted of colonists who wanted to keep in touch with one another as events unfolded. Samuel Adams established the first committee in Boston. -
First Continental Congress
Delegates from all the colonies except Georgia met in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774, for the First Continental Congress. Key colonial leaders such as Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee, & George Washington attended. -
Second Continental Congress
Within three weeks, delegates from all thirteen colonies gathered in Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress. The Continental Congress immediately assumed the powers of a central government. It chose John Hancock of Massachusetts as president. -
Lexington & Concord
The first blow fell early on the morning of April 19, 1775. British Redcoats clashed with colonial minutemen at Lexington & Concord in Massachusetts. This skirmish was the first battle of the Revolutionary War. -
Resolution of Independence
In June 1776, more than a year after fighting had begun in the colonies, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia did declare independence. Lee introduced a resolution in the Continental Congress "[t]hat these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states." -
Declaration of Independence
On July 4, the Congress approved the final draft. John Hancock, the president of the Congress, was the first to sign the document, which eventaully held the signatures of all 56 delegates. It explained the reasons for declaring independence. Its actual title was "The unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of America."
