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Albany Plan of Union
In response to French attacks on the fronteir, in 1754 Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan for uniting the colonies. The colonies rejected the plan, however, because it gave too much power to an assembly made up of representatives from all 13 colonies. -
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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 colonist no longer needed the British to protect them from the French. -
George III becomes king of Great Britain
This greatly changed the relationship between the colonies and Britain. He had different ideas about how the colonies should be governed. -
Stamp Act
This act 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
Mine 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 Tax. -
Coercive Acts
In retaliation, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts, which the colonists called the Intolerable Acts. One of the acts closed Boston Harbor. Another of the Coercive Acts withdrew the right of the Massachusetts colony to govern itself. By the early 1770s events clearly showed that revolution was not far off. -
Commitees of Correspondence
These organizations 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. -
Boston Tea Party
A group of colonists, dressed as Mohawk Indians, dumped 342 chests of British Tea into Boston Harbor. In retaliation Parliament passed the Coercive Acts. -
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, and George Washington attended. 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. The also proposed a meeting the following year if Britain did not change its policies. -
Lexington and Concord
The first blow fell early on the morning of April 19, 1775. British Redcoats clashed with colonial minutemen at Lexingon and Concord in Massachusetts. This skirmish was the first battle of the Revolutionary War. -
Second Continental Congress
Within three 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 or Massachusetts as president. -
Resolution of Independence
In June 1776, more than a year after fighting had begun in the colonies, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declared independence. Lee introduced a resolution in the Continental Congress "that these United colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states." On July 2, 1776, the Congress approved Lee's resolution. The colonies officially broke with Great Britain. The Congress the turned its attention to Jefferson's draft. -
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 pepare a written declaration of independence. The committee asked Thomas Jefferson to write the draft. On June 28 the committee submitted the edited draft to the congress.
