Historic united states betsy ross flag

Road to Revolution Timeline

  • Navigation Act

    Navigation Act
    The Navigation Acts (1651, 1660) were acts of Parliament intended to promote the self-sufficiency of the British Empire by restricting colonial trade to England and decreasing dependence on foreign imported goods.
  • Sugar Act

    Sugar Act
    Enacted on April 5, 1764, to take effect on September 29, the new Sugar Act cut the duty on foreign molasses from 6 to 3 pence per gallon, retained a high duty on foreign refined sugar, and prohibited the importation of all foreign rum.
  • Stamp Act

    Stamp Act
    Stamp Act, (1765), in U.S. colonial history, first British parliamentary attempt to raise revenue through direct taxation of all colonial commercial and legal papers, newspapers, pamphlets, cards, almanacs, and dice.
  • Declaratory Act

    Declaratory Act
    Declaratory Act, (1766), declaration by the British Parliament that accompanied the repeal of the Stamp Act. It stated that the British Parliament's taxing authority was the same in America as in Great Britain. Parliament had directly taxed the colonies for revenue in the Sugar Act (1764) and the Stamp Act (1765).
  • Townshend Act

    Townshend Act
    The Townshend Acts were a series of measures, passed by the British Parliament in 1767, that taxed goods imported to the American colonies. But American colonists, who had no representation in Parliament, saw the Acts as an abuse of power.
  • Tea Act

    Tea Act
    In an effort to save the troubled enterprise, the British Parliament passed the Tea Act in 1773. The act granted the company the right to ship its tea directly to the colonies without first landing it in England, and to commission agents who would have the sole right to sell tea in the colonies
  • Intolerable Act

    Intolerable Act
    The Intolerable Acts were a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws aimed to punish Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest of the Tea Act, a tax measure enacted by Parliament in May 1773.
  • Quartering Act

    Quartering  Act
    On March 24, 1774, the British Parliament passed the Quartering Act, one of a series of measures primarily aimed at raising revenue from the British colonies in America.Mar 26, 2015
  • First Continental Congress

    First Continental Congress
    The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 British Colonies, that met to deal with the Intolerable Acts. Georgia was the only colony that did not send a representative to the Congress. They agreed to boycott British goods at first, if Parliament would not repeal the Intolerable Acts.
    -All colonists but Georgia have representatives
    -voted to sand a "statement of grievances"
    -Voted to boycott all British Trade
  • 1,000's of Redcoats in Boston

    1,000's of Redcoats in Boston
    General Gage brings thousands of British soldiers to Boston with more on the way.
  • Midnight ride of Paul Revere

    Midnight ride of Paul Revere
    Paul Revere rides to warn the Sons of Liberty in Lexington and Concord that the "British are coming... The British are coming.."
  • Second Continental Congress meet

    Second Continental Congress meet
    -Printed money
    -Set up post offices
    -Created Continental Army led by George Washington
    -Sent Olive Branch asking King to Protect their rights
    -King hires 30,000 Hessian Soldiers in response
  • Battle of Bunker Hill

    Battle of Bunker Hill
    The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775 during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charleston, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved in the battle.
    -Fought on Breeds Hill-"Don't Fire until you see the whites of their eyes"
  • Washington arrives on outskirts of Boston with Continental troops

    Washington arrives on outskirts of Boston with Continental troops
    -Realizes men are disorganized and need discipline
    -Need weapons
  • "Common Sense" published by Thomas Paine

    "Common Sense" published by Thomas Paine
    -pamphlet inspires more colonists to become patriots
    -"Every thing that is right or reasonable pleads for separation. The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature cries, 'tis time to part"-Thomas Paine, Common sense.
  • British Surrender Boston

    British Surrender Boston
    -Washington believes his army is ready and weapons arrive.
    -Washington puts cannons on Dorchester heights overlooking Boston.
    -British retreat--American Victory
  • Second Continental Congress meet again

    Second Continental Congress meet again
    -Debate on declaring independence
    -Thomas Jefferson is the primary author of the document
  • Declaring independence

    Declaring independence
    On July 2, 1776, Congress voted to declare independence. Two days later, it ratified the text of the Declaration. John Dunlap, official printer to Congress, worked through the night to set the Declaration in type and print approximately 200 copies.