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Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was a revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain. The preamble to the act stated: "it is expedient that new provisions and regulations should be established for improving the revenue of this Kingdom ... and ... it is just and necessary that a revenue should be raised ... for defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the same." -
Stamp Act
This was a direct tax imposed by the British Parliament specifically on the colonies of British America. It required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp.These printed materials were legal documents, magazines, newspapers and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies The purpose of the tax was to help pay for troops stationed in North America after the British victory in the Seven Years War. -
The Boston Massacre
In the Boston Massacre, British Army soldiers killed five civilian men. British troops had been stationed in Boston, capital of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, since 1768 in order to protect and support crown-appointed colonial officials attempting to enforce unpopular Parliamentary legislation. Amid ongoing tense relations between the population and the soldiers, a mob formed around a British sentry who was subjected to verbal abuse and harassment. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a direct action by colonists in Boston, a town in the British colony of Massachusetts, against the British government and the monopolistic East India Company that controlled all the tea imported into the colonies. On December 16, 1773, after officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor. The incident remains an iconic event of American history. -
The Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts or the Coercive Acts are names used to describe a series of laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 relating to Britain's colonies in North America. The acts triggered outrage and resistance in the Thirteen Colonies that later became the United States, and were important developments in the growth of the American Revolution -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen North American colonies that met at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. It was called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts by the British Parliament. -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
These battles were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy and Cambridge, near Boston. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in the mainland of British North America. -
Second Continental Congress
It was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. It succeeded the First Continental Congress. The second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence. With the ratification of the Articles of Confederation, the Congress became known as the Congress of the Confederation. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
This battle mostly on and around Breed's Hill, during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after the adjacent Bunker Hill, which was peripherally involved in the battle and was the original objective of both colonial and British troops, and is occasionally referred to as the "Battle of Breed's Hill. -
Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by the Continental Congress in July 1775 in an attempt to avoid a full-blown war with Great Britain. The petition affirmed American loyalty to Great Britain and entreated the king to prevent further conflict. The petition was rejected, and in August 1775 the colonies were formally declared in rebellion by the Proclamation of Rebellion. -
Common Sense
Common Sense is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. It was first published anonymously during the American Revolution. The pamphlet became an immediate success. In relation to the population of the Colonies at that time, it had the largest sale and circulation of any book in American history. Common Sense presented the American colonists with an argument for freedom from British rule at a time when the question of independence was still undecided. -
Battle of New York
The British set forth to subdue the colonies. They began the effort by recapturing New York. First, they drove Washington off Long Island; then, from lower Harlem. After this initiative, Washington retreated to White Plains, where for the first time, he was able to hold off the British forces. The British, then again, outmanuevered Washington. Washington was forced to retreat to New Jersey. -
The Declaration of Rights
The Declaration of Rights is a document drafted in 1776 to proclaim the inherent rights of men, including the right to rebel against "inadequate" government. It influenced a number of later documents, including the United States Declaration of Independence, the United States Bill of Rights , and the French Revolution's Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. -
The Declaration of Indpendence
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress , which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a resolution earlier in the year which made a formal declaration inevitable. The Declaration was ultimately a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain. -
Battle of Trenton
This Battle took place after General George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River north of Trenton, New Jersey. The hazardous crossing in adverse weather made it possible for Washington to lead the main body of the Continental Army against Hessian soldiers garrisoned at Trenton. After a brief battle, nearly the entire Hessian force was captured, with negligible losses to the Americans. The battle significantly boosted the Continental Army's flagging morale, and inspired re-enlistments. -
Battle of Brandywine Creek
The Battle of Brandywine Creek was fought between the American army of Major General George Washington and the British-Hessian army of General Sir William Howe.The British defeated the Americans and forced them to withdraw toward the rebel capital of Philadelphia. The engagement occurred near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania during Howe's campaign to take Philadelphia, part of the American Revolutionary War. -
The Battle of Saratoga
This Battle took place in Saratoga on the Hudson River in New York State. Major General John Burgoyne commanded the British and German force. Major General Horatio Gates and Brigadier Benedict Arnold commanded the American army. The Americans forced the surrender of Burgoyne’s force. -
John Paul Jones captures the Serapis
In a naval battle off Flamborough Head, John Paul Jones and Bonhomme Richard captures Serapis. Departing France in August 1779, aboard Bonhomme Richard, Commodore John Paul Jones sought to circle the British Isles while preying upon Britain's merchant shipping. On September 23, Jones' squadron sighted a convoy returning from the Baltic. Turning to intercept, Jones engaged the convoy's escorts HMS Serapis and HMS Countess of Scarborough. After a four-hour battle, Jones captures Serapis. -
Siege of Charlreston
The Siege of Charleson was one of the major battles which took place towards the end of the American Revolutionary War, after the British began to shift their strategic focus towards the American Southern Colonies. After about six weeks of siege, Continental Army Major General Benjamin Lincoln surrendered forces numbering about 5,000 to the British. It was the biggest loss of troops suffered by the Continental Army in the war. -
Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown was a decisive victory by a combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis. The culmination of the Yorktown campaign, it proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in North America, as the surrender of Cornwallis' army prompted the British government eventually to negotiate an end to the conflict.
