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Population grows from 2.2 million to 2.8 million
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British troops fire on and kill unarmed Patriot protestors in Boston. This event leads more colonists to join the Patriot's cause as they see the British troops as brutal murders.
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A group of approximately 150 Patriots disquised as Mohawk Indians boarded three tea ships in Boston harbor and emptied 342 chests of tea into the water to protest the Tea Act. The Patriots are becoming more bold in their actions but the British respond with even stricter acts.
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The British sign into law a series of acts in response to the Boston Tea Party designed to punish the colonists--particularly Massachussetts. They include closing Boston Harbor, forbidding public meetings, holding trials for British troops only in England, and requiring colonists to provide room and board for British troops.
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The first battles of the Revolutionary War are fought in the tiny towns of Lexington and Concord. The British lose 73 troops while the Patriots only suffer 49 casualties.
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Congress elects George Washington, a former officer in the British Army during the French and Indian War, to command the Continental Army.
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Most of the population is in the northern colonies along the coast and the major ports.
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The full text of the Declaration of IndependenceThe United States of America declare independence from Great Britain.
