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Declaration of Rights and Grievances
The Declaration of Rights and Grievances was a peaceful attempt to protest the Stamp Act by the Stamp Act Congress. It was a document created and passed on 19 October 1765 that argued that the colonies had no representation in Parliament, so Parliament had no right to tax them. -
Boston Tea Party
A retaliation against the British Parliament and East India Company, who controlled all the tea imported into the colonies. Throughout the year, colonists had been refusing to buy tea from Britain due to the Tea Act, and sending the ships back. In Boston, however, the governor did not allow the ship to be sent back, so a group of colonists got on the ship, some dressed as Mohawk Indians, and dumped the tea into the harbor. -
First Continental Congress Meets
Delegates from every colony except Georgia met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the First Continental Congress. The meeting was in response to the Intolerable Acts, a result of the Boston Tea Party, set by the British Parliament. To pressure Parliament to withdraw the Coercive Acts, the delegates announced a boycott of all British imports. Patriots established local committees and provincial congresses to enforce the boycotts. They also established new governments that bypassed Parliament. -
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First Continental Congress
Delegates from every colony except Georgia met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the First Continental Congress. The meeting was in response to the Intolerable Acts, a result of the Boston Tea Party, set by the British Parliament. To pressure Parliament to withdraw the Coercive Acts, the delegates announced a boycott of all British imports. Patriots established local committees and provincial congresses to enforce the boycotts. They also established new governments that bypassed Parliament. -
Revolutionary War Begins
British troops, sent by General Gage to seize and destroy weapons gathered in Concord, enter Lexington to find 77 minutemen formed up on the village green. Several minutemen were killed and the troops continued on to Concord, only to find three companies of 500 minutemen routed at the North Bridge. The British troops retreated while thousands of militiamen attacked them, inflicting great damaga before reinforcements prevented a total disaster. This battle marked the beginning of the war. -
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Revolutionary War
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Second Continental Congress Meets
Delegates from the Thirteen Colonies meet in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. Many of the 56 delegates who attended the First Continental Congress appeared in this one, along with a few new delegates that included Benjamin Franklin and John Hancock. -
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Second Continental Congress
In May 1775, delegates from all the colonies assembled in Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress. Congress assumed responsibility for the war. Armed volunteers from the Middle and Southern colonies marched north to join the Patriot siege of Boston. Congress gave the command of the new Continental Army to George Washington. -
Declaration of Independence is Signed
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, regarded themselves as independent states. Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration drew upon Thomas Paine's ideas to denounce the king of England as a tyrant who made American independence necessary. August 2nd was the day that most of the delegates in Congress signed the engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence. -
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Articles of Confederation Is Signed
The Articles of Confederation was signed at different dates by each of the colonies. It's official ratification began when the last colony signed it. -
Official Ratification of the Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation served as the first Constitution for the United States of America. The articles were written to give the colonies some sense of a unified government. They made the states and legislature supreme and there was no executive branch. It was drafted by the Continental Congress in 1776 and an approved version was sent to the states for ratification. It wasn't official until all the states signed it; the last state being Maryland. -
Revolutionary War Ends
The war formally ended with the Treaty of Paris that recognized the independence and sovereignty of the United States of America. It also mentioned the release of prisoners on both sides and of property left by the British army in the United States. Its ratification was to occur within six months from the signing by the contracting parties. -
Constitutional Congress Opens
Delegates from the states meet in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to adress the problems caused by the United States operating under the Articles of Confederation. The Convention was intended to fix the Articles of Confederation so that the delegates would actually come. The real intention was to create a new government and abolish the Articles of Confederation. -
Final Draft of the Constitution is Signed
Members of the Constitutional Convention signed the final draft of the Constitution. However, the Constitution was not official until 30 April 1789 when they added the Bill of Rights, which established the fundamental rights of the United States citizens relieving the fears associated with the relatively strong government the Constitution provided.
