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Age of Enlightenment
"The Enlightenment" period was an intellectual upheaval which emphasized reason and science in the eighteenth century. -
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The French & Indian War
Essentially a battle over ownership of the upper Ohio River Valley and whether it was a part of the French or British Empire ending with Britain's victory. -
The Sons of Liberty
The Sons of Liberty were a well-organized Patriot paramilitary political organization established to undermine the British rule in colonial America and was influential in carrying out and organizing the Boston Tea Party. -
Stamp Act of 1765
On March 22nd, 1765, the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act which sought to raise money to pay for their army. It required colonists to pay taxes on every page of printed paper they used. -
Townshend Acts
Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, which initiated taxes on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea help pay the expenses from governing the American colonies. -
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was an American Protest by the Sons of Liberty on December 16th, 1773. The demonstrators boarded the ships and threw the chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. The British government considered this protest as an act of treason. -
First Continental Congress Meet
The Congress first met in Philadelphia with delegates from each of the 13 colonies except Georgia to consider it's reaction to the British governments restraints on trade and representative government after the Boston Tea Party. -
Second Continental Congress meet
The Second Continental Congress met inside the Independence Hall beginning in May 1775 a month after shots had been fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, the congress was preparing for war. -
Battles of Lexington & Concord
The first major military campaign of the American Revolutionary War resulting in an American victory and outpouring of militia support for the anti-British cause. -
Olive Branch Petition sent to England
On July 5th, 1775, The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by congress to be sent to the King as a last resort to prevent formal war from being declared. The Petition emphasized loyalty to the British crown and their rights as British citizens. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
On June 13th, 1775, the leaders of the colonial forces besieging Boston learned the British were planning to send troops out from the city to fortify the unoccupied hills around the city which would give them control of Boston Harbor. The American patriots were defeated, but proved the could hold their own against the British army. -
Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"
Published on January 10th, 1776, Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" became the first viral mass communications even in America. It was a document arguing for American Independence from British rule with moral principles, practical economic and political insights. -
Creation of The Articles of Confederation
On November 15th, 1777, The Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Constitutional Congress. The purpose of these articles were to unify the colonies into a new nation under a governing set of principles in the midst of the American Revolution. -
Great Compromise
The Great Compromise was an agreement was ton include two legislative bodies, one with proportional representation and the other with equal representation, providing that states would be represented equally in the Senate and in proportion to their populations in the House. -
Bill of Rights Adopted
This is when President George Washington send copies of the 12 amendments adopted by Congress to the states.