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Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan of Union was a plan proposed by Benjamin Franklin to unite the colonies in 1754 to respond to the French attacks on the frontier. The Albany Plan of Union was rejected by the colonies, because it gave too much power to an assembly made up of representatives from all thirteen colonies. -
George III becomes king of Great Britain
George III became the king of Great Britain in 1760 and greatly changed the relationship between the colonies and Britain. When he became king, he was determined to deal firmly with the American colonies. To help pay for the French and Indian 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. The defeat of France meant American colonists no longer needed the British to protect them from the French. However, the real impact of the war was the cost of the British. The British were faced with debt. -
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. Parliament also passed laws regulating colonial trade in ways that benefited Great Britain but not the colonies. -
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 legislature could impose direct taxes such as the Stamp Tax. -
Coercive Acts
In retaliation to the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts, which the colonists called the Intolerable Acts. One of these acts closed the Boston Harbor. Another of the Coercive Acts withdrew the right of the Massachusetts colony to govern itself. By the early 1770's, events cleared showed that revolution was not far off. -
Committees of Correspondence
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. The idea spread quickly, and within a few months, Massachusetts alone had more than 80 such committees. Virginia and other colonies soon joined in this communication network. Two prominent members were Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry. -
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 colonist, dressed as Mohawk Indians, dumped 342 chests of British tea into Boston Harbor. -
First Continental Congress
The Intolerable Acts prompted Virginia and Massachusetts to call a general meeting of the colonies. Delegates from all colonies except Georgia met in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress. Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee, and George Washington attended. The delegates imposed an embargo, an agreement prohibiting trade, on Britain and agreed not to use British goods. They also imposed a meeting the following year if Britain didn't change its policies. -
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. Although it had no constitutional authority, the Second Continental Congress served as the acting government of the colonies throughout the war. It purchased supplies, negotiated treaties, and rallied support for the colonists' cause. -
Lexington and Concord
British Redcoats clashed with the colonial minutemen at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. This skirmish was the first battle of the Revolutionary War. -
Resolution of Independence
After more than a year that the fighting began 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." 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. -
Declaration of Independence
On July 2, 1776, the Congress approved Lee's resolution. The colonies officially broke with Great Britain. The Congress then turned its attention to Jefferson's draft. After considerable debate, a few passages were removed and some editorial changes were made. On July 4, the Congress approved the final draft. John Hancock, the president of Congress was the first to sign the document, which eventually held the signatures of all 56 delegates.
