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Seven Year War Ends
The Treaty of Paris was signed on February 10, 1763, officially bringing an end to the Seven Year War. The British were awarded Canada, Louisiana and Florida. Removing European rivals and opening up North America for Westward expansion. -
The Stamp Act
British Parliament passed the Stamp Act to help pay off their finances after the costly Seven Years’ War with France. Part of the money from the Stamp Act would be used to maintain British soldiers in North America to keep peace between Native Americans and the colonists. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was when British soldiers opened fire on a group of American colonists killing five men. The British had instituted a number of new taxes on the American colonies including taxes on tea, glass, paper, paint, and lead. -
Intolerable Act
Passed by the British Parliament as punishment for the destruction citizens made during the Boston Tea Party, a violent reaction to the British tea tax of 1773. At this point, the British made the fateful decision to tax the American colonies. -
Declaration of Independence
The first formal statement by the nations people using their right to choose their own government. The Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, written largely by Jefferson, in Philadelphia on July 4. A date we now celebrated as the birth of American independence. -
Battle of Yorktown
General George Washington commanding soldiers of French and Continental, begins the Battle of Yorktown against British General Lord Charles Cornwallis and British troops at Yorktown, Virginia. in the most important battle of the Revolutionary War and the beginning of an independent nation. -
The Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris had officially ended the American Revolutionary War. American statesmen Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and John Jay created the peace treaty with representatives from Great Britain. In the Treaty of Paris, the British state the American independence and hand over most of their land east of the Mississippi River to the United States, doubling the size of the new independent nation and the start of westward expansion. -
Articles of Confederation
Served as a bridge between the gap of initial government by the Continental Congress of the Revolutionary time period and the federal government given under the U.S. Constitution of 1787. Because the experience of oppressive British central authority was vivid. the drafters of the Articles established a confederation of sovereign states.
