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Passage of the Stamp Act
The Stamp Act 1765, passed by the British Parliament in 1765 was the first direct tax imposed on the British colonies in North America. The colonists were outraged because they had no say in the taxes that were to be imposed on them and how the raised money was to be spent. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was an incident between the British soldiers and a crowd of colonists in Boston, Massachusetts. It took place on March 5, 1770, when a group of nine British soldiers opened fire on the crowd, killing five and wounding six men. -
Boston Tea Party
On December 16, 1773, a group of about 70 men boarded on three British ships in the Boston harbor and threw their tea cargo in the sea. The destruction of the tea cargo was a protest against the Tea Act which was passed by the British Parliament earlier that year and gave the British East India Company monopoly on tea sale in the colonies. -
Passage of the Intolerable Acts
In response to the Boston Tea Party, the British Parliament passed a series of laws that came to be known as Intolerable Acts or Coercive Acts. These closed the Boston harbor for all shipping until the city would pay for the destroyed tea cargo. -
Convocation of the First Continental Congress
On September 5, 1774, delegates from 12 colonies met at the First Continental Congress to discuss how to react to the Intolerable Acts. They decided to boycott British goods and ban the export of American goods to Britain if the Intolerable Acts would not be repealed. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
On the evening of April 18, 1775, the British governor of Massachusetts sent several hundred British troops to seize the colonists’ military stores at Concord. The British intentions were soon discovered by the Patriot colonists who decided to prevent the British from carrying out their plan. -
Adoption of the Declaration of Independence
On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence which formally proclaimed the 13 colonies as independent. The war, however, continued as Britain was not willing to give up its North American colonies. -
Battles of Saratoga
The Battles of Saratoga that were fought on the same grounds on September 19 and October 7, 1777, marked the turning point of the American Revolution and encouraged France to openly support the Americans against Britain. -
Surrender of Yorktown
After successful land and sea campaign of joint American and French armies in Virginia in 1781, the British found themselves trapped on the Yorktown peninsula. The British commander Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis realized that he did not have a slightest chance against the Franco-American army and tried to escape -
Signature of the Treaty of Paris
The American War of Independence and with it, the American Revolution formally ended with the Treaty of Paris which was signed on September 3, 1783. The British Empire accepted defeat against its former colonies and recognized independence of the United States of America.
