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JamesTown(1606)
The colony was a private venture, financed and organized by the Virginia Company of London. King James I granted a charter to a group of investors for the establishmen…
A contingent of approximately 105 colonists departed England in late December 1606 in three ships—the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discover -
French Indian war (1754-63)
The French and Indian War was the North American conflict that was part of a larger imperial conflict between Great Britain and France known as the Seven Years' War. The French and Indian War began in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. 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 of 1765 was the first internal tax levied directly on American colonists by the British Parliament. The act, which imposed a tax on all paper documents in the colonies, came at a time when the British Empire was deep in debt from the Seven Years' War (1756-63) and looking to its North American colonies as a revenue source. -
American Revolution (1765-830
The Revolutionary War (1775-83), also known as the American Revolution, arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain’s 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown. Skirmishes between British troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord in April 1775 kicked off the armed conflict, and by the following summer, the rebels were waging a full-scale war for their independence. -
town shed act
The Townshend Acts were four laws enacted by the British Parliament in 1767 that imposed and enforced the collection of taxes on the American colonies. The Townshend Acts consisted of the Suspending Act, the Revenue Act, the Indemnity Act, and the Commissioners of Customs Act. -
boston tea party
The British government felt the taxes were fair since much of its debt was earned fighting wars on the colonists’ behalf. The colonists, however, disagreed. They were furious at being taxed without having any representation in Parliament, and felt it was wrong for Britain to impose taxes on them to gain revenue. -
Declaration of independence (1776
The Declaration of Independence was the first formal statement by a nation’s people asserting their right to choose their own government. When armed conflict between bands of American colonists and British soldiers began in April 1775, the Americans were ostensibly fighting only for their rights as subjects of the British crown. By the following summer, with the Revolutionary War in full swing, the movement for independence -
The consitution (1787)
On September 17, 1787, the United States Constitution —the oldest written constitution still in effect today—was approved and signed in Philadelphia by thirty-nine delegates to the federal convention. The document has been hailed as the most successful work of its kind in modern history.