-
Stamp Act
This act placed a stamp duty (tax) on legal papers, newspapers, pamphlets, and even playing cards, in Britain’s North American colonies. -
The Townshend Acts
Series of 1767 laws named for Charles Townshend, British Chancellor of the Exchequer (treasurer). These laws placed new taxes on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. -
The Boston Massacre
The killing of five Boston colonists by British soldiers who were being harassed by a crowd of Boston residents on March 5, 1770. -
The Boston Tea Party
Angry at new tax on tea, Americans boarded three British ships (the Dartmouth, the Eleanor, and the Beaver) and dumped 342 whole crates of British tea into Boston harbor on December 16, 1773. -
First Continental Congress
Convened in Philidelphia in September, 1774, to consider the situation resulting from the Intolerable Acts. They issued the Declaration of Rights and Grievances to George III, and called for the Continental Association, and agreement to boycott trade with Britain. -
Second Continental Congress Called
Delegates met on May 10, 1775 and assumed the powers of a central government. -
Declaration of Independence
A statement adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire. -
Articles of Confederation Passed
The first constitution of the United States. Created a weak national government; replaced in 1789 by the Constitution of the United States. -
The Treaty of Paris
Officially ended the Revolutionary War on September 3, 1783. It was signed in Paris by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay. Britain recognized the independent nation of the United States of America.
