-
The Stamp Act
The Stamp act was a tax that was made by the British Parliament. Parliament passed the act on March 22, 1765.The act implemented a tax that was put on all paper documents such as newspapers,legal documents, and magazines.The British created the act to help bring up there finances after being in 7 years of war with France. The colonists obsessively didn't like this so the protested and refused to pay the tax. Eventually the tax was finally repealed on March 18, 1766. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre happened on March 5, 1770 In Boston Massachusetts. A small argument broke between the British and some colonialists. The argument grew and they stared to fight as well as more people joining in. British Captain Tomas was watching and soon sent over soldiers to keep everything calm. But soon people started to fire and so one of his soldiers Private Montgomery fired. In the end Thirteen people were arrested as well as 5 colonists dying. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party happened on December 16, 1773 in Boston Massachusetts. It was a political protest from Americans because of the tax that Britain put on tea. During the protest, protesters dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor that came from the British East Tea company. This showed the British that Americans will do anything to fight for there independence. -
The Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were laws passed by the British government in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. This was because they want to punish the colonists or what they did at the Boston Tea Party. The five acts were the Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government Act, Administration of Justice Act, Quartering Act, and the Quebec Act. These acts took some of there basic freedoms but that just pushed them to fight for there rights and gain Independence. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress took place between September 25 and October 26 of 1774. Delegates from each colony met up at Carpenter's hall and talked current situations like the Intolerable acts from Britain as well as the punishment that Britain put of them because of the Boston Tea Party. They did two important things which were writing a letter to king George III explaining how they didn't like how they were being treated and making plans to meet May 1775 if nothing went wrong. -
Patrick Henry's give me liberty or give me death speech
On March 3, 1775 in Richmond Virginia Patrick Henry gave a speech that would help change people's minds. While talking speaks about how the Americans have to fight to get there Independence or else this is gonna stay like this forever. He was talking to mostly talking to delegates from Virginia in hope of changing there mind and for some to separate from Britain. In the future Patrick Henry's speech helped convince people to start to prepare for the revolutionary war specially in Virginia. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The Battle of Lexington and Concord happened on April 19, 1775 in Lexington and Concord. Two battles took place the first one being the battle of Lexington where British arrived trying to find weapons but only around 80 minute men were in town. No one was gonna shoot but then a random shot was shot which caused the British to attack. The Americans retrieved down to Lexington where the second battle begins. There the British and Americans attack with Americans wining and the British retreating. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill happened on June 17,1775 in Massachusetts. The Americans found out that the British were taking advantage of the hills surrounding Massachusetts. so the Americans secretly in the night went over to both bunker's hill and Breeds hill to prepare for battle. The next morning the British attacked and won with 226 killed and 828 wounded while the american's lost and were left with 115 killed and 305 wounded. -
The Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were a series of taxes that were put on imported goods that passed in 1776. They created the taxes because of the lowering of money from previous wars and they thought that the colonists could help them. The colonists were annoyed that they weren't allowed any representatives in the British Parliament and thought it was unconstitutional. This resulted in John Dickinson writing a series of essays and the stealing of goods and which eventually turned into the Boston Massacre. -
The publishing of Common Sense by Tomas Paine
On January 26, 1776 Tomas Paine publishes a pamphlet called Common Sense to speak about gaining independence from Great Britain. When writing most colonists were considered to on Britain's side. So he changed there argument by saying “Europe, and not England, is the parent country of America.This new world hath been the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty from every part of Europe." Fun fact it sold more than 100,000 copies which was more than any other single book. -
Decoration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was drafted by Tomas Jefferson explaining why they were declaring there Independence. It also explains humans rights, how the government will work and why the U.S is a free country. On july 4, 1776 or the Fourth of July congress adopted the final copy of the document and it was put into place. At the bottom a total of 56 congress delegates like John Adams, John Hancock, Richard Stockton, and a bunch of others signed to make it official. -
Washington crosses the Delaware
On December 25, 1776 George Washington and his army crosses the Delaware into NJ. They were doing this to have a surprise attack on the British in Trenton NJ. It was very cold and was snowing as well as very icy. When they arrived the British had no idea and lost. George Washington captured around 1000 soldiers and barely lost any. The crossing of the Delaware was really important because before they were't doing good at all. After the wining this gave them a chance and hope to keep on going. -
The Battle of Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga happened between September and October of 1777 and included two battles that were extremely important. The first battle was the Battle of Freeman's Farm which took place on John Freeman's farm. There British won but had twice as many deaths and wounded then the Americans. The other battle was the Battle of Bemis Heights and there the Americans were defensing Bemis Heights. When the British attacked it failed badly and they won and eventually the British surrendered. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was the very first constitution for the U.S. and was written in 1777. There were 13 short articles in the document that talks about different things such as people can travel freely between states but if a crime is committed they get sent back to the state it happened in. Another is that if Canada wanted to join the union they could. In order for the document to be official all 13 states would have to ratify with Virginia being the first and Maryland was the last. -
Battle of Monmouth
The Battle of Monmouth was fought near the Monmouth Court house or in modern day Freehold Township NJ on June 28, 1778. General Lee lacked confidence and the ability of his soldiers under his command. So he retreated and then Washington approached the fighting and removed lee from command. Then Washington continued to lead his army and fight until everyone was tried of it. No one really knows who won the battle but most people believe it was beneficial for the Americans. -
Baylor's Massacre
Baylor's massacre happened on September 27, 1778 in River Vale, NJ. It was a surprise attack on the 3rd Regiment of Continental Light Dragoons. A total of 8 company's of light infinity went from house to house and surprised attacked them. In the end over 70 were killed, wounded, and taken as prisoners. Major John McLeod and a couple other people tried escape and they did but with burns wounds and scars. The reformed Church of Tappan was used as a hospital for the hurt after the massacre. -
The DeWint House
The DeWint house was a temporary headquarters for George Washington while he was in Tappan NY. His first stay was in August of 1780 while he was inspecting the rebut of the Hudson. His second stay was from late September to early October for the deciding on Major John Andre's execution. His third stay was from May 4-8 in 1783 for deciding the final withdrawal for British troops in New York. His fourth and final stay was from Nov 11-14 in 1783 because of a snowstorm he got caught in. -
The Execution of Major John Andre
Major John Andre was executed by hanging on on Oct 2, 1780. This happened because he was the head of secret service spying for the British. This also was because he got caught by some members in the New York military red handed with papers from Benedict Arnold as well as a map of west point. The men took him and arrested him and brought the papers to Washington. There they decided to execution him because he was spy. Eventually on Oct 2, 1780 he was hung. -
Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown took place in Yorktown Virginia and started on September 28 and ended on October 19th. The battles in the south weren't going so well until General Green took charge and caused the British to retrieve on the east and let them travel to Yorktown. George Washington's army was also going down as well as the French. They surrounded the British and attacked for 11 days until Cornwallis surrendered. In the end there were over 5000 British casualties 389 American casualties. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was a peace treaty between the U.S. and Great Britain that ended the American Revolution. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay negotiated the treaty for the U.S and stated 2 important parts that got signed. 1. Britain recognized that America is free from them and that they are there own independent country. 2. That there can be expansion in the western hemisphere for the U.S. Today only the first point is still in use which is that the U.S. is an independent country.