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Sons of Liberty
The Sons of Liberty were grassroots group of instigators in colonial America who used an extreme form of civil threats, and in some cases actual violence to intimidate loyalists and outrage the British government. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a deadly riot that occurred on March 5, 1770, on King Street in Boston. It began as a street brawl between American colonists and a lone British soldier, but quickly escalated to a chaotic, bloody slaughter. The conflict energized anti-British sentiment and paved the way for the American Revolution. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. -
First Continental Congress meets
The First Continental Congress met at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the fall of 1774. When the Delegates reconvened in May 1775, however, they met in Pennsylvania's state house. -
Second Continental Congress meets
The Second Continental Congress met inside Independence Hall beginning in May 1775. It was just a month after shots had been fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, and the Congress was preparing for war. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775 during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved. -
Declaration of Independence adopted
The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It was engrossed on parchment and on August 2, 1776, delegates began signing it. -
Articles of Confederation created
The Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777. This document served as the United States' first constitution. It was in force from March 1, 1781, until 1789 when the present-day Constitution went into effect. -
Battle of Yorktown
The siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle because of the presence of Germans in all three armies, began September 28, 1781 and ended on October 19, 1781, in Yorktown, Virginia. -
Treaty of Paris signed
This treaty, signed on September 3, 1783, between the American colonies and Great Britain, ended the American Revolution and formally recognized the United States as an independent nation. -
Great Compromise
Their so-called Great Compromise (or Connecticut Compromise in honor of its architects, Connecticut delegates Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth) provided a dual system of congressional representation. In the House of Representatives each state would be assigned a number of seats in proportion to its population -
Bill of Rights adopted
Opportunities to improve our Constitution have been contemplated since its inception. On December 15, 1791, three-fourths of the existing State legislatures ratified the first 10 Amendments of the Constitution—the Bill of Rights.
