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1st Continental Congress
A convention of 56 delegates, from 12 of the original colonies, meets in Philadephia to consider a response to the Intolerable Acts. -
Period: to
American Revolution
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Lexington/Concord
A British force from Boston attempts to seize Massachusettes Militia's supplies. This sparked the first engagement of the American Revolution. -
2nd Continental Congress
Delegates meet in Philadelphia again, faced with bloodshed. Congress votes for a Continental Army and puts George Washington in charge as Commander. -
Green Mountain Boys
Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys seize Fort Ticonderoga. They were a militia. -
"Common Sense" Published
Paine's "Common Sense" column is published. -
British Evacuate Boston
The British evacuate Boston; British Navy moves to Halifax, Canada. -
Declaration of Independence is signed
Delegates begin to sign the Declaration of Independence. -
Loss of Fort Washington
In the Battle of Fort Washington, British General William Howe ordered Hessian mercenaries under Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Knyphausen, and other British soldiers, totaling around 8,000 men, to capture the fort from the Patriots. They did so on November 16, 1776, taking 2,818 prisoners and a large store of supplies. The British renamed it Fort Knyphausen. -
Washington crosses the Delaware
Following a retreat from New York, and with the enlistment terms from troops about to expire, Washington gambles on an attack with the Hessian garrison of Trenton, New Jersey. Whsington's christmas night crossing the Delaware River leads to the "Ten Crucial Days" that revive the struggle to secure American independence. -
Winter at Valley Forge
Washington's forces arrive at Valley Forge, and stay for 6 months in the Winter Quarters. -
Signing of the French Alliance
On March 17, 1778, four days after a French ambassador informed the British government that they had officially recognized the United States as an independent nation with the signing of The Treaty of Alliance and The Treaty of Amity and Commerce, England declared war on France directly engaging them in the American Revolutionary War. -
British occupy Savannah
The redcoats occupy Savannah. -
British capture Charleston, South Carolina
With the war in the North at a standstill, Sir Henery Clinton develops a strategy to tap loyalist man power and restore British political control back in the region. The American surrender leads to a partisan war across much of the south. -
Articles of Confederation adopted
All 13 articles were adopted. -
Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown
Having established a base at Yorktown, Virginia, General Cornwallis finds himself uder siege by American and French froces. A French fleet destroys a British naval force at Chesapeak Bay. -
Treaty of Paris
Ratified by the American Congress and King George III in 1784, this treaty ends the American war of Independence. -
Shays Rebellion
Led by Daniel Shays. In central Massachusetts, stengthens calls for a revision of the Articles of Confederation and a stronger national government. -
Constitution Ratified
U.S. Constitution adopted, when New Hampshire ratifies it.
