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Albany Plan of Union
In response to French attacks on the frontier, in 1754 Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan for uniting the colonies. The Colonist rejected the plan, however, 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 king in 1760. He had different ideas about how the colonies should be governed. When he 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 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 action. Delegates to the Congress sent a petition to the king, arguing that only colonial legislatures could impose direct taxes such as the Stamp Act. -
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. -
Boston Tea Party
A group of colonists, dressed as Mohawk Indians, dumped 342 chests of British tea into Boston Harbor. -
Coercive Acts
In relation, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts, which the colonists called the Intolerable Acts. One of these acts closed Boston Harbor. Another of the Coercive Acts withdrew the right of the Massachusetts colony to govern itself. By the early 1770's, events clearly showed that revolution was not far off. -
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. 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. -
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, for the First Continental Congress. They finally imposed an embargo, an agreement prohibiting trade, 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 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. Hancock was a well-known colonial leader, but he was also a wealthy merchant and thus well-placed for helping to raise funds for an army. The next critical steps were organize an army and navy, issue money, and appoint George Washington as leader. -
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
Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a resolution in the Continental Congress "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states." -
Declaration of Independence
Congress approved Lee's resolution. Congress approved Jefferson's draft. John Hancock, the president of the Congress, was the first to sign the document, which eventually 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 Sates of America."
