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Proclamation of 1763
The end of the French and Indian War in 1763 was a cause for great celebration in the colonies, for it removed several ominous barriers and opened up a host of new opportunities for the colonists. The French had effectively hemmed in the British settlers and had, from the perspective of the settlers, played the "Indians" against them. The first thing on the minds of colonists was the great western frontier that had opened to them when the French ceded that contested territory to the British. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was the killing of five colonists by British regulars on March 5, 1770. It was the culmination of tensions in the American colonies that had been growing since Royal troops first appeared in Massachusetts in October 1768 to enforce the heavy tax burden imposed by the Townshend Acts. -
The Boston Tea Party
Colonists wanted to get rid of the ships in the Boton Harbor so in order to do that they gathered together and rallied. They then went down to the harbor and got on all of the ships and dump every single barrel of tea into the Boston Harbor, which gave it the name of "The Boston Tea Party." -
Lexington and Concord
On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord in order to seize an arms cache. Paul Revere and other riders sounded the alarm, and colonial militiamen began mobilizing to intercept the Redcoat column. A confrontation on the Lexington town green started off the fighting, and soon the British were hastily retreating under intense fire. Many more battles followed, and in 1783 the colonists formally won their independence. -
The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga
On May 10, 1775, Benedict Arnold of Massachusetts joined Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont in a dawn attack on the fort, surprising and capturing the sleeping British garrison. Although it was a small-scale conflict, the Battle of Fort Ticonderoga was the first American victory of the Revolutionary War, and would give the Continental Army much-needed artillery to be used in future battles. -
The Battle of Bunker Hill
Battle: Bunker Hill War: American Revolution Date: 17th June 1775 Place: On the Charlestown Peninsula on the North side of Boston Harbour. Combatants: British troops of the Boston garrison against troops of the American Continental Army. Generals: Major General Howe against General Artemas Ward and General Israel Putnam Size of the armies: 2,400 British troops against 1,500 Americans. -
The Olive Branch Petition
John Dickinson drafted the Olive Branch Petition, which was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 5 and submitted to King George on July 8, 1775. It was an attempt to assert the rights of the colonists while maintaining their loyalty to the British crown. King George refused to read the petition and on August 23 proclaimed that the colonists had "proceeded to open and avowed rebellion." -
The Publishing of Common Sense
Originally published anonymously, "Common Sense" advocated independence for the American colonies from Britain and is considered one of the most influential pamphlets in American history. Credited with uniting average citizens and political leaders behind the idea of independence, "Common Sense" played a remarkable role in transforming a colonial squabble into the American Revolution. -
Dorchester Heights
One of the skirmishes which took place during the American Revolution, the Battle of Dorchester Heights seems to have fallen from the pages of America’s history books. Some believe it is due to the fact the event was void of battlefield heroics or casualties. George Washington was able to liberate the town of Boston from British occupation without a single shot being fired on the part of the colonists. -
The Declaration of Independence
In mid-June 1776, a five-man committee including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin was tasked with drafting a formal statement of the colonies' intentions. The Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence--written largely by Jefferson--in Philadelphia on July 4, a date now celebrated as the birth of American independence. -
The Battle of Trenton
Shortly after eight o'clock on the morning of December 26, 1776, the Continental Army started its charge on the city. Three columns marched through thick snow with Washington personally leading the middle charge. As the soldiers pushed forward, artillery began to fire. At the same time, German drums urgently called the Hessians to arms. To his astonishment, Washington had maintained the element of surprise. -
The Battle of Princeton
In a stroke of strategic genius, General George Washington manages to evade conflict with General Charles Cornwallis, who had been dispatched to Trenton to bag the fox (Washington), and wins several encounters with the British rear guard, as it departs Princeton for Trenton, New Jersey. -
The Battle of Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga was the turning point of the Revolutionary War. The scope of the victory is made clear by a few key facts: On October 17, 1777, 5,895 British and Hessian troops surrendered their arms. General John Burgoyne had lost 86 percent of his expeditionary force that had triumphantly marched into New York from Canada in the early summer of 1777. -
The Battle of Valley Forge
The 12,000 men and women of the Continental Army who arrived in Valley Forge on December 19, 1777 with Commander In Chief, General George Washington, were half-starved and no longer believed they could win a war of independence from Britain. The Patriot Army had lost the Battle at Brandywine on September 11, 1777 and the Battle of Germantown on October 4, 1777. They had been forced to retreat at both battles. This left them discouraged. -
The Battle of Yorktown
On this day in 1781, General George Washington, commanding a force of 17,000 French and Continental troops, begins the siege known as the Battle of Yorktown against British General Lord Charles Cornwallis and a contingent of 9,000 British troops at Yorktown, Virginia, in the most important battle of the Revolutionary War. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris of 1783, negotiated between the United States and Great Britain, ended the revolutionary war and recognized American independence.
