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Albany Plan of Union
This plan was proposed by Benjamin Franklin to unite the colonies. However, the colonies rejected the plan because it gave too much power to an assembly made up of representatives from all 13 colonies. -
George III becomes king of Great Britain
He became king in 1760. He had different ideas about how to govern the colonies. When he first became king, he was determined to deal firmly with the American colonies. To help pay for the war, the king and his ministers levied taxes on tea, sugar, glass, paper, and other products. -
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War started as a struggle between the French and British over lands in western Pennsylvania and Ohio. By 1756, several other European countries became involved. Great Britain won the war in 1763 and gained complete control of the eastern third of the continent. -
Stamp Act
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 and 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 Georges actions. Delegates to the congress sent a petition to the king, arguing that only colonial legislatures could impose direct taxes such as the Stamp Tax -
Coercive Acts
In retaliation to the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts. The colonists called this the Intolerable Acts. One of the acts closed the Boston Harbor. Another of the Coercive Acts withdrew the right of the Massachusetts colony to govern itself. -
Boston Tea Party
The protests led to the repeal of the Stamp Act, but the British passed other tax laws to replace it. The situation reached a boiling point in 1773. A group of colonists, dressed a Mohawk Indians, dumped 342 chests of British tea into Boston Harbor. -
Committees of Correspondence
Organizations that would urge 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. The idea spread quickly and within a few months, Massachusetts alone had more than 80 committees. Virginia and other colonies soon joined in this communication network. 2 prominent members of the Virginia committee of correspondence were Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry. -
First Continental Congress
The Intolerable Acts prompted Virginia and Massachusetts to call a general meeting of the colonies. Delegates from all the colonies except Georgia met in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774. The delegates debated what to do about the relationship with Great Britain. They finally imposed an embargo on Britain and agreed not to use British goods. They also proposed a meeting the following year if Britain did not change its policies. -
Second Continental Congress
Within 3 weeks, delegates from all 13 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. The next critical steps were to organize an army and navy, to issue money, and to appoint George Washington as commander of the Continental Army. -
Lexington And Concord
The first blow fell early on the morning of April 19,1775. British redcoats clashed with colonial minutemen at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. This skirmish was the first battle of the Revolutionary War. -
Resolution of Independence
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 "that these Untied Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states. -
Declaration of Independence
After Lee's resolution, the Congress promptly named a committee of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman to prepare a written declaration of independence. The Committee asked Thomas Jefferson, a Virginia planter known for his writing skills, to write the draft. June 28 the draft was submitted to the congress. July 4, the Congress approved the final draft. John Hancock, the president of the Congress, was the first to sign the document.
