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The Mayflower lands at Plymouth Rock
On the 16th of September 1620, the Mayflower ship set sail from Plymouth, England, to voyage to America. The passengers of the Mayflower were called Pilgrims, and they were hoping to find religious tolerance and start a new life in America. There were about 130 people on the ship and the living quarters were cramped, so some people died along the way. As they began to approach land, they settled at Cape Cod, and set up camp there. -
Pennsylvania Becomes a Colony
Pennsylvania was one of the original 13 colonies and it was founded by William Penn. He was eager and encouraged to make a haven for his fellow Quakers after he received a charter for over 45,000 miles of land by King Charles II. He previously helped found Quaker settlements in West New Jersey, and wanted to expand his new colony. -
French and Indian War
Also known as the Seven Years War, this conflict was another problem in the long struggle between Britain and France. When France expanded into the Ohio River Valley, the British colonies weren’t happy, and this led to a repeated conflict which turned into a series of wars. The wars began with the French winning most of the battles, but the tables turned when William Pitt became the new British leader. The final battle was the Battle of Quebec where James Wolfe won a spectacular victory. -
The Sugar Act
The Sugar act of 1764 was also called the American Revenue act of 1764 was aimed at ending the smuggling with sugar and molasses. This act was also aimed to raise revenue and passed by the Parliament of Great Britain. The increased revenues would fund the British Empire's responsibilities following the French and Indian war. -
The Currency Act
On September 1st, Parliament passed the Currency Act of 1764 which took control of the currency colonial system. This act prohibited the American colonies from giving bills that had similar status to legal tender and stopped colonial merchants from paying the British in paper money issued by the colonies. Many people in the colonies were unhappy, and blamed this act for causing lots of economic failure. -
The Stamp Act
England wanted to pay their troops in the colonies, so they passed the Stamp Act. The act put a tax on legal documents, stamps, wills, papers, and more. If the colonists didn't pay, they would be punished unfairly, and the colonists hated this act. For them, it was an example of "taxation without representation." -
The Quartering Act
The Quartering Act was a series of measures made to raise the profits from the British colonies in America. This was a source of disagreement between colonies and Great Britain colonists. One of the rules states that colonists had to provide housing and hospitality to soldiers stationed in the colonies. The colonists didn't want to house them and thought that soldiers shouldn't be stationed in the colonies during peacetime. -
The Townshend Revenue Act
The Townshend Revenue Act from 1767 to 1678 was an act that taxed goods such as glass, paper, paint, lead, china, and tea. The taxes were low, but colonists still objected, since they thought that Parliament shouldn't have the right to tax them without their consent. Customs officials were also sent to American ports with orders to stop smuggling. They had legal documents called writs of assistance to inspect a ship's cargo, often without giving a reason. -
The Boston Massacre
On the night of March 5th, a crowd of colonists gathered outside the Boston customs house. They shouted insults at the rec coated British guards and threw snowballs, oyster shells, and ice at them. The crowd grew larger and more chaotic, so the soldiers panicked and fired their guns into the crowd. When the smoke from their guns cleared, 5 people were laying on the ground, either dead or dying. -
The Boston Tea Party
On December 16, Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty demanded to the governor that the British tea ships leave the harbor. After that, a group of men in Native American disguises bursted into the meetinghouse where Adams was and cried "Boston harbor a teapot tonight! The Mohawks are coming!" then left the meetinghouse and boarded the tea ships on the harbor. They then split open the tea chests and dumped all of the tea into the harbor. 342 chests of tea floated in the harbor. -
The First Continental Congress
On September 5th 1774, the First Continental Congress was held to organize colonial resistance to the Parliament. The attendees were delegates from each of the 13 colonies except Georgia since they were fighting a war at that time. The Congress had made a Declaration of Rights that affirmed it's loyalty to the British Crown, but also stated that the British Parliament shouldn't have the right to tax it. -
Patrick Henry’s “Give me Liberty or give me Death” speech
In March of 1775, the Second Virginia Convention discussed their strategy against the British at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia. Here, Patrick Henry delivered his most famous speech “Give me liberty, or give me death!” Patrick Henry spoke without notes during his speech. The only known version of the speech was reconstructed in a biography of Henry by William Wirt. -
The Ride of Paul Revere
On the night of April 18, 1775, Dr Joseph Warren asked Paul Revere and gave him a task. The task was to give a warning to people in Lexington, Massachusetts, that British troops were about to march into the countryside of Boston. This ride allowed the colonists and militia to prepare themselves to fight the British. -
The Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress happened after the American Revolution had begun, and it happened at the same place as the first one. The delegates from the Thirteen Colonies continued to work on the Declaration of Independence. The Congress argued over and over about each and every word about Thomas Jefferson's draft of the declaration and they had made numerous changes. On July 4th 1776, they established the Declaration of Independence. -
George Washington named Commander in Chief
The Continental Congress chose George Washington as the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army over other candidates such as John Hancock because he had previous military experiences. They also hoped that a leader from Virginia could help unite the colonies while at war. After eight years of war, he resigned his title of Commander in Chief on December 23, 1783.