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French and Indian War
The war provided Great Britain enormous territorial gains in North America, but disputes over subsequent frontier policy and paying the war's expenses led to colonial discontent, and ultimately to the American Revolution. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act imposed a direct tax on the colonists. The act required that, legal documents and printed materials must bear a tax stamp provided by commissioned distributors who would collect the tax in exchange for the stamp. -
Boston Massacre
A street fight that occurred, between a "patriot", throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers. Several colonists were killed and this led to a campaign by speech-writers to rouse the ire of the citizenry. -
Boston Tea Party
A political protest that occurred 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. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
Signaled the start of the American Revolutionary war on April 19, 1775. The British Army set out from Boston to capture rebel leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock in Lexington as well as to destroy the Americans store of weapons and ammunition in Concord. -
The Second Continental
Represent America's first real attempt at representative self-governance, with it being the governing body of the American colonies from 1775-1781. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The British defeated the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill in Massachusetts. Despite their loss, the inexperienced colonial forces inflicted significant casualties against the enemy, and the battle provided them with an important confidence boost during the Siege of Boston. The fighting was mostly fought on Breed's Hill. -
Declaration of Independence Signing
On July 19, Congress ordered an official copy of the declaration for the delegates to sign. On August 2, 1776, Congress members signed the declaration. Not every man who had been present on July 4 signed the declaration on August 2. -
Battle of Trenton
Washington defeated a formidable garrison of Hessian mercenaries before withdrawing. -
Battle of Saratoga
These crucial colonist victories at the Battle of Saratoga persuaded the French to support the Americans with military aid, and is considered the major turning point in the American Revolution. -
Winter at Valley Forge
A great trial for the American army, and of the 11,000 soldiers, hundreds died from disease. The suffering troops were held together by loyalty to the Patriot cause and to General Washington, who stayed with his men. -
Battle of King's Mountain
"The turn of the tide of success." The battle of Kings Mountain, an important American victory during the Revolutionary War. The battle was the first major patriot victory to occur after the British invasion of Charleston, SC in May 1780. -
Battle of Guilford Court House
1,900 British soldiers under Cornwallis went on the offensive against Greene's 4,400 to 4,500 Continental troops and militia. More than 25 percent of Cornwallis's men were killed, wounded or captured during the battle. -
Battle of Yorktown
Franco-American land and sea campaign that entrapped a major British army on a peninsula at Yorktown, Virginia, and forced its surrender. The siege virtually ended military operations in the American Revolution. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was signed by U.S. and British Representatives on September 3, 1783, ending the War of the American Revolution. -
Shays Rebellion
Showed how precarious the future of the United States was if it continued to function with the Articles of Confederation. From May to September 1787, the Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia. In the end, the new Constitution drafted that summer is still the one we use to this day. -
Constitutional Convention
To decide how America was going to be governed. Although the Convention had been officially called to revise the existing Articles of Confederation, many delegates had much bigger plans. -
George Washington Election
Washington felt himself exploited by British merchants and hampered by British regulations. When the new Constitution was ratified, the Electoral College unanimously elected Washington President. -
Whiskey Rebellion
Demonstrated that the new national government had the will and ability to suppress violent resistance to its laws, though the whiskey excise remained difficult to collect.
