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Navigation Acts
The Navigation Acts were a series of laws passed by the British Parliament that imposed restrictions on colonial trade. This would only add to the frustration of the colonies. -
French and Indian War ends
England and her colonies defeated France and Native American allies. British treasury drained. Britain thought colonists should pay their share. -
Stamp Act
In need of money, Great Britain taxed all paper documents in the colonies. This was "taxation without representation." -
Boston Massacre
Out of increasing resentment towards the soldiers, some colonists started pelting them with stones and snowballs, and eventually, the soldiers fought back. The colonists then labeled the event as a massacre and stirred resentment even more. -
Tea Act
To bail out the East India Company, Great Britain gave it a monopoly on tea trade with the colonies. The colonists did not like that this was done without their consent. -
Boston Tea Party
The colonists were fed up with "taxation without representation," and dumped 342 chests of tea off of East India ships. -
Coercive/Intolerable Acts
Great Britain implemented these 4 acts to punish the colonies for the Boston Tea Party. The four acts were the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, and the Quartering Act. This was the last straw for the colonists. -
First Continental Congress
Delegates from all of the colonies except Georgia met to create a response to the Coercive Acts in the form of the Articles of Association. -
Second Continental Congress
This meeting convened after the revolutionary war had begun and declared America's independence from Great Britain. -
Lexington and Concord
These battles started the Revolutionary War and were a message that the colonists could fight against the British army. -
Declaration of Independence adopted
This document severed the colonists' ties with Great Britain and clearly outlined why they were doing so. -
Battle of Saratoga
This was a decisive victory for the colonists and a turning point in the War for Independence. -
Winter at Valley Forge
The severe winter was tough on the men stationed at Valley Forge, but through loyalty to the patriot cause and George Washington, they persevered. This proved that America could get through anything. -
Battle of Yorktown
George Washington manages to surround the British at Yorktown with American and French troops and ends the War for Independence. -
U.S. Constitution written
This is the document that defined our government and still enforces it today. It imposed ideas inspired by the enlightenment like separation of powers to create a brand new kind of government. -
U.S. Constitution adopted
The constitution is signed by everyone and put into use. This is the day the government we know today was started.
