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French and Indian war
The French and Indian War began over the specific issue of whether the upper Ohio River valley was a part of the British Empire, and therefore open for trade and settlement by Virginians and Pennsylvanians, or part of the French Empire -
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french and indian war
The French and Indian War, the North American phase of the larger Seven Years' War, began after a series of incidents in the upper Ohio River valley, which the French and British governments both claimed as their territory. -
sons of liberty
In 1774, the British Parliament passed a series of laws collectively known as the Intolerable Acts, with the intent to suppress unrest in colonial Boston by closing the port and placing it under martial law. In response, colonial protestors led by a group called the Sons of Liberty issued a call for a boycott. -
townshend act
On 29 June 1767 Parliament passes the Townshend Acts. They bear the name of Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is—as the chief treasurer of the British Empire—in charge of economic and financial matters. -
boston mass
The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers. Several colonists were killed and this led to a campaign by speech-writers to rouse the ire of the citizenry. -
boston tea party
The property damage amounted to the destruction of 92,000 pounds or 340 chests of tea, reported by the British East India Company worth £9,659 (equivalent to £1,550,322 in 2023), or roughly $1,700,000 in today's money. The owner of two of the three ships was William Rotch, a Nantucket-born colonist and merchant. -
First Continental Congress meets
Following these proposals, the First Continental Congress adjourned on October 22nd, 1774, after fifty-one days of deliberation and tactical planning. In the event that the Intolerable Acts were not lifted, the Congress decided to meet again. -
battles of Lexington and concord
The violence turned a colonial revolt against British policy into a fight for political independence. Lexington and Concord led many Americans to support the 'revolution'. For John Adams, these battles were the moment 'the Die was cast, the Rubicon crossed'. -
battle of bunker hill
It is commonly believed that it was at the Battle of Bunker Hill that the famous injunction “Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!” was given to the American troops, but there is no evidence that those words were actually spoken at the time. -
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense published
Common Sense made a clear case for independence and directly attacked the political, economic, and ideological obstacles to achieving it. Paine relentlessly insisted that British rule was responsible for nearly every problem in colonial society and that the 1770s crisis could only be resolved by colonial independence. -
great compromise
The Great Compromise settled the method of representation in the legislative branch. Small states wanted equal representation , and large states wanted representation based on population (equality by vote). Under the compromise, all states were represented equally in the Senate. -
articles of confederation
The Articles of Confederation served as the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. -
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battle of yorktown
Outnumbered and outfought during a three-week siege in which they sustained great losses, British troops surrendered to the Continental Army and their French allies. This last major land battle of the American Revolution led to negotiations for peace with the British and the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783. -
3/5 compromise
The Three-Fifths Compromise stated that for every five slaves in a state, three would be included in the population census. James Wilson and Roger Sherman first introduced the idea of the Three-Fifths Compromise on June 11, 1787. -
bills of rights adopted
James Madison wrote the amendments as a solution to limit government power and protect individual liberties through the Constitution. For example, the Founders saw the