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Stamp Act
The British government was in debt after the Seven Years' War, so they decided to create the Stamp Act. All legal documents and printed materials had to have a stamp on them. It only affected the colonists. They were mad they had been taxed without representation. They started mob violence to intimidate the stamp collectors into resigning. The British did not expect them to react like this so they repealed the act in March of 1776.
[http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/stamp-act] -
Boston Massacre
The British government sent soldiers to keep the chaos created by the Stamp Act under control. The colonists did not like the soldiers being there, so they harassed them. They threw icy snowballs at them. The soldiers fired into the crowd, and five people died. The British expected the Patriots to return fire but they didn't. The massacre sparked the revolutionary flame.
[http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/boston-massacre] -
Tea Tax
The East India Company was struggling so British parliament sent some of the company's tea to America to be sold. The price on the tea was cheaper than what they would normally pay, but because there was a British tax on it, the colonists would not buy it. The Sons of Liberty dumped 342 chests of tea overboard into the Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773. The British were not expecting them to do this.
[http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/boston-tea-party] -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The battles of Lexington and Concord were the first battles of the Revolutionary war. The night before the battle, British soldiers marched to nearby Concord to seize an arms storage. The British did not expect there to be a battle. There wasn't going to be, but there was an accidental shot let off. To this day no one knows who shot it. 8 militiamen were killed, but only one redcoat was injured. -
Bunker (Breed's) Hill
The colonists received information on June 16, 1775, that the British troops were going to occupy the hills surrounding Boston. 1,000 colonial militiamen were sent to build earthen fortifications on Breed's Hill. The battle took place the next day. The battle was what was expected because it was head to head combat with no surprises. The British won the battle and Breed's Hill went under their control.
[http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/battle-of-bunker-hill] -
Common Sense
Thomas Paine wrote the pamphlet Common Sense. Before he published it, "most colonists considered themselves aggrieved Britons." Paine said that England wasn't the parent country of the colonies, but Europe was. Common sense played a major role in the change from a colonial squabble into the American Revolution. The pamphlet was radical because Paine said that America didn't need a monarchy.
[http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/thomas-paine-publishes-common-sense] -
Declaration of Independence
When the Revolutionary war began, the Americans were fighting for their rights as British subjects. By the second year of fighting, the movement for independence from Britain had grown. The Continental Congress formed a committee of 5 people to write a draft of the colonists' intentions for freedom, The congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. America was officially independent.
[http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/declaration-of-independence] -
Battle at Trenton/ Princeton
General George Washington and his army launched a surprise attack on December 25, 1776. The war had been going badly for the Patriots because they had been fighting symmetrically. George decided he needed to switch things up if the colonists were gonna win. The attack was successful. He also launched a risky night attack on January 3, 1777 on Princeton.That attack was successful too.
[http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/battles-of-trenton-and-princeton] -
Battle of Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga was a very important battle for the Patriots. If they hadn't won, the French may not have joined them and helped them win the war. The first attack was on September 19, 1777. The second attack was on October 7, 1777. The battle was symmetrical because it was fought in the traditional head to head combat style.
[http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/battle-of-saratoga] -
Continental Army wintering at Valley Forge
The Continental Army, under the command of General George Washington, camped at Valley Forge for the winter of 1777-1778. They were 22 miles away from where British forces were occupying Philadelphia. There were 11,000 troops camping in Valley Forge, of which hundreds died. They left June 19, 1778. The British expected them to do this because it was winter and they wouldn't be fighting.
[http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/continental-army-enters-winter-camp-at-valley-forge] -
War in the south/ Charleston
Nathaniel Greene decided to use a different strategy for the war in the South. He made British presence unacceptable. He gained the support of the southern states for the Patriots. It worked very well. It set the Patriots up to win the battle of Yorktown and the Revolutionary War.
[http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/americans-suffer-worst-defeat-of-revolution-at-charleston] -
The Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown is known as the most important battle of the war. The patriots encircled the British in Yorktown so that they could not escape. The patriots got the British to surrender, after three weeks of fighting, on October 17, 1781. The end of this battle ended fighting in the American colonies. This battle was also pretty normal because they fought head to head.
[http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-yorktown-begins]
