-
1. Navigation Acts
The Navigations Acts was a long series of English laws that were made to put the theory of mercantilism into practice. The laws promoted and regulated English ships, shipping, trade, and commerce between other countries and its own colonies. -
21. Crispus Attucks
Crispus Attucks was born into slavery and brought to America. In 1750, he became known as a runaway slave as the Boston Gazette advertised his escape. -
3. French and Indian War
The French and Indian War was a 9-year long war between France and Great Britain. The war began after arguing over who had control of the Ohio River valley. The British colonies were threatening French territory and their trade routes by Britain's increasing expansion in territory. -
36. The Continental Army
The Continental Army, led by George Washington, was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolution by the colonies that became the United States of America. This army was formed to secure American colonists' independence from Great Britain. The army courageously fought in the American Revolution and claimed victory for the newly formed United States. -
5. Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was issued by King George III at the end of the French and Indian War. It was established to conciliate the Indians after their lands had been intruded. -
16. Daughters of Liberty
The Daughters of Liberty was a women Patriot association that protested against the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts. These women identified themselves as fighting for liberty during the American Revolution. -
25. Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams was the leader and founder of Sons of Liberty. Adams organized the Boston Tea Party and formed a resistance against the Stamp Act. He was a strong Patriot and opposed British taxation. -
7. Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was passed by British parliament, which required all colonists to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, news papers, and even playing cards were taxed. The money collected from these taxes were used to pay off the debt the government had after the French and Indian War. -
2. Quartering Act
The Quartering Act were two British laws passed by Parliament that forced colonists to provide provisions and housing to British soldiers who were stationed in the 13 colonies. The soldiers were required to have barracks and food provided to them by the colonists. -
13. Sons of Liberty
The Sons of Liberty was a secret organization that was created in the 13 colonies to fight for the rights of the colonists and fight against taxation from the British government. They played important roles in battling the Stamp Act. -
8. Declaratory Act
The Declaratory Act was a declaration by the British Parliament that accompanied the end of the Stamp Act. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act because boycotts were damaging British trade. The Declaratory Act states that Britain's taxing authority was the same in America as in Great Britain. -
4. Townshend Act
The Townshend Act was a series of laws passed by British Parliament that taxed goods imported to the American colonies. Colonists saw this as an abuse of power, as British troops were sent to America to enforce the new laws. These acts imposed duties on British china, glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea imported to the colonies. This created greater tensions between Britain and the colonies. -
20. Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a deadly riot that occurred on King Street in Boston. It began as a street fight when Private White, a guard at the Customs house struck Edward Garrick in the face with the end of his musket for insulting his commanding officer. It also began when Boston was occupied by redcoats. -
44. Committees of Correspondence
The Committees of Correspondence were secret governments established by Patriot leaders in the 13 colonies. They served an important role in the American Revolution by rallying against British policy and establishing a political union among the colonists. -
6. Quebec Act
The Quebec Act was a law made by Parliament that set procedures of governance in the province of Quebec. The British Parliament were trying to institute a permanent administration in Canada. -
9. Tea Act
The Tea Act was passed by Parliament to not raise revenue from the colonies, but to bail out the East India Company. -
18. Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred at Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, angry at Parliament for imposing taxations, dumped 342 chests of British tea into the harbor.Over 92,000 pounds of tea were destroyed and thrown into the harbor. This event was the first major act of defiance to British rule over the colonists. -
11. Coercive Acts/ Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were laws made by Parliament after the Boston Tea Party. The 1st law was the Boston Port Bill which fined Boston for the tea destroyed in the Boston Tea Party. The 2nd law was the Government Bill, which rewrote the colony's charter and expanded power to the royal governors. The 3rd law was the Administration of Justice Act which allowed the governor to send officials to other colonies for trial. The last law was the Quartering Act which forced colonists to shelter redcoats. -
46. First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies. They met to talk about their reactions to the Intolerable Acts. -
37. Francis Marion
Francis Marion was a British soldier in the Continental Army that was a true adversary to Britain. He was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel by the Continental Congress. He tried to recover the Georgia colonial capital city which had been previously taken by the British. -
22. Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry was one of the Founding Fathers of the U.S. and the first governor of Virginia. His most famous quote, "Give me liberty, or give me death," was said to convince the colonists to fight back against Britain. His speech was spoken at a Virginia convention. -
43. William Dawes
William Dawes was one person in the group of several men that rode to Lexington to warn the minutemen of the redcoats arrival. -
40. Paul Revere
Paul Revere rode on horseback on the night of April 18 to Lexington and Concord to warn the minutemen of the British redcoats arrival. The redcoats were marching through Concord to Lexington to ambush the colonists. -
38. Lexington and Concord
The Battle of Lexington and Concord were the first battles of the American Revolution. The British troops were sent to confiscate colonial weapons, but ran into an angry militia. The colonists' militia defeated 700 British soldiers, and soon the redcoats retreated back to Boston. -
26. Haym Solomon
Haym Solomon is mainly known for financing the American Revolution. When the war began, Solomon was operating as a financial broker in New York City. -
47. Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress met in the spring of 1775 to discuss the invasion of redcoats in Boston. They talked about and decided that a continental army would be created to meet the military threat from Britain. -
10. Green Mountain Boys
The Green Mountain Boys was a militia organization that marched north to attack and later capture the British held fort, Fort Ticonderoga, which was America's first victory in the war. ` -
12. Ethan Allan
Ethan Allan fought in the American Revolution and led the Green Mountain Boys to capture Fort Ticonderoga from the British in 1775. -
29. Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought during the Siege of Boston in the American Revolution. The British defeated the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Despite their loss, the inexperienced colonial forces inflicted significant casualties against the enemy, and the battle provided them with an important confidence boost. Boston was being besieged by thousands of American militia. The British were trying to keep control of the city and control its valuable seaport. -
17. Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was made by the Second Continental Congress in an attempt to avoid war between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies in America. It was also an attempt to assert the rights of the colonists while maintaining their loyalty to the British crown. -
48. Bernando Galvez
Bernardo de Gálvez was a Spanish Leader during the American Revolution and also the governor of the Spanish colony of Louisiana when the Revolutionary War began. Gálvez helped the Patriots by keeping British armies and supplies out of the Mississippi River. He also gave the United States army ammunition and food. -
41. Wentworth Cheswell
During the American Revolutionary War, the citizens of Newmarket, including Cheswell, were unequivocally for the patriotic cause. In April 1776, along with 162 other Newmarket men, Cheswell signed the Association Test. Patriots collected signatures of people who opposed the hostile actions by the British armies. The abundance of the returns gave the signers of the United States Declaration of Independence assurance that their acts would be sanctioned and upheld by most of the colonists. -
45. Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine was an England-born political philosopher and writer who supported revolutionary causes in America and Europe. Common Sense was the first pamphlet to advocate American independence, which was written by Thomas Paine. -
23. Common Sense
Common Sense was published in January 1776 in Philadelphia. Nearly 120,000 copies were in circulation by April. Paine's brilliant arguments were straightforward. He argued for two main points the first being independence from England and the second was the creation of a democratic republic. -
42. Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence declared the 13 American colonies severing their political connections with Great Britain. The Declaration summarized the colonists' motivations for seeking independence. The main points of the Declaration of Independence are that all men are created equal and that all men have basic human rights given to them by God. -
19. Nathan Hale
Nathan Hale was a captain in the Continental army and volunteered to spy on the British during the American Revolution. In 1776, at age 21, he was hanged without a trial by the British. -
24. Battle of Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga, comprising two significant battles during September and October of 1777, was a crucial victory for the Patriots during the American Revolution and is considered the turning point of the Revolutionary War. -
33. Valley Forge
While the British occupied Philadelphia, Washington and his army hunkered down for a harsh winter at Valley Forge. No battle was fought there, yet, it was the turning point of the Revolutionary War. The particularly severe winter proved to be a great trial for the American army, and of the 11,000 soldiers stationed at Valley Forge, hundreds died from disease. However, the suffering troops were held together by loyalty to the Patriot cause and to General Washington, who stayed with his men. -
14. Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold was a member of the Sons of Liberty and was an American military officer who served as a general during the American Revolution, fighting for the American Continental Army. George Washington had given him his fullest trust and placed him in command of the fortifications at West Point, New York. Frustrated by the lack of recognition, he subsequently switched sides to the British and plotted the surrender of West Point. -
35. John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones was a Revolutionary War hero known as the father of the U.S. Navy. When the American Revolution broke out, Jones sided with the colonists and joined the Continental Navy, with his greatest victory coming from his against-all-odds defeat of the British warship Serapis in 1779. -
15. James Armistead
In 1781, James Armistead volunteered to join the U.S. Army in order to fight for the American Revolution. His master granted him permission to join the revolutionary cause, and the American Continental Army stationed Armistead to serve under the Marquis de Lafayette, the commander of allied French forces. -
27. Battle of Yorktown
The significance of the Battle of Yorktown was that Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington as French and American forces trapped the British at Yorktown. The British surrender at the Battle of Yorktown ended the American Revolutionary War. -
30. Benjamin Franklin
During the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin served in the Second Continental Congress and helped draft the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He also negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War. -
39. Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris was signed by U.S. and British Representatives on September 3, 1783, ending the War of the American Revolution. The 1783 Treaty was one of a series of treaties signed at Paris in 1783 that also established peace between Great Britain and the allied nations. It also recognized American independence from Great Britain. -
31. John Jay
John Jay was an American statesman, Patriot, diplomat, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, negotiator and signatory of the Treaty of Paris of 1783, second Governor of New York. He is mostly known for being the first Chief Justice of the United States. -
32. George Washington
After the American Revolution, George Washington became the first U.S. President and served his terms from 1789 to 1797. The first inauguration of George Washington as the first President of the United States was held on Thursday, April 30, 1789 on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City, New York. The inauguration marked the commencement of the first four-year term of George Washington as President. -
28. John Adams
The inauguration of John Adams as the second President of the United States was held on Saturday, March 4, 1797, in the House of Representatives Chamber of Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The presidential oath of office was administered to John Adams by Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth. -
34. Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was an American Founding Father who was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and later served as the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809. Previously, he had been elected the second Vice President of the United States, serving under John Adams from 1797 to 1801.
