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Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 and died on April 17, 1890. Franklin was a Patriot known for his role in the colonial post system. During the revolutionary war Franklin also negotiated the Treaty of Paris which plays a key role in the war because it's what brings the French over to the colonists side and helps the colonists get an upper hand to winning the war. When Franklin wasn't doing this he was inventing things and creating non-religious collages and founding libraries. -
George Washington
George Washington was born in on February 22, 1732 and died on December 14, 1799. George Washington was a Patriot most commonly known as being our first President, but during the American Revolution he was the commander and chief. Washington is also known for leading his army through the severe winter that was in 1777/1778. This is the time they camped at Valley Forge and got whipped into shape and became a well-organized and successful army. -
Paul Revere
Paul Revere was born on January 1, 1735 and died on May 10, 1818. He was a Patriot most commonly known now for his midnight ride from Lexington to Concord to warn the colonists that the minutemen were coming, because he did this the minute men were able to secure all the weapons and be more prepared for the first war against Great Britain. Although Paul Revere is known mostly as a hero from the Battle of Lexington and Concord, he was just a blacksmith. -
John Hancock
John Hancock was born on January 23, 1737 and died on October 9, 1793. In his life he was a merchant and a smuggler who served as a Patriot and founded the Sons of Liberty after the British seized on of his merchant ships after he supposedly never paid taxes for the cargo he unloaded. He is commonly known for signing the Declaration of Independence and during the war he used his money to help the revolutionary cause and also to aid the colonial army. -
Henry Knox
Henry Knox was born on July 25, 1750 and died on October 25, 1806. Knox was a Patriot who was an officer in the Colonial army. Knox became Washington’s friend and they worked together, Washington took over Dorchester Heights, a major place for the British and after he did Knox put a lot of canons there. Knox's most significant role was that he was the man in charge of the artillery and it was because of his strategic positioning that the colonial army was able to win the Battle of Yorktown. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was placed on the colonists by the British Parliament. They put duties on foreign sugar and certain luxuries. This act mainly affected the merchants. The Sugar Act was meant to stop the smuggling that was happening, but it only enraged the colonists and started to get the colonists riled up. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was placed on the colonists by the Parliament on March, 22 1765 in order to raise funds for the British military. This Act placed taxes on all paper products like newspapers, legal documents, and even playing cards. This was the first Act to truly affect all colonists, no matter how much money they had and no matter where they fell when it came to politics. This caused them to really rally together as a while rather than just the smaller groups separately. -
Townshend Act
The Townshend Acts were passed by the British Parliament onto the Colonists in the beginning of the year of 1767. These acts were placed on the imported tea, glass, and paper; it also allowed the British to search any house for smuggled goods. At first the colonists were okay with this, but they soon began to boycott all British goods until the Townshend Acts were repealed in 1770, all except the tax on tea. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre happened on March 5, 1770 in Boston. The patriots were upset about the Townshend Act so they created a mob and started yelling at the British soldiers that were in the town. The British soldiers were ordered not to shoot, but when one of the colonists through something at one of the soldiers he shot and killed five innocent people. When this spread through the papers it was over dramatized and created more tension between Great Britain and the colonists. -
Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown was fought at Yorktown between September 28, 1781 and October 19, 1781. The British surrendered ending this battle and the Revolutionary War with the Colonists being the victors and achieving their goal of independence from Britain. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party happened on December 16, 1773 on the Boston Harbor. A group of patriots called the Son's of Liberty, who was led by Samuel Adams, dressed as Indians and snuck onto British ships and dumped over 300 chests of tea into the harbor. They did this because they opposed the taxes that Britain put on tea and they wanted to make a bigger point then just boycotting the British tea. This angered Great Britain and caused Britain to see the colonists as more of a nuisance then as useful. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The Battle of Lexington and Concord happened near Boston in Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy, and Cambridge on April 19, 1775. The British technically won, but they also had more casualties and the colonists saw this as a thing to rally around because they realized that they really could win this war. It was an important battle because it was the battle that makes the true beginning of the Revolutionary War. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill happened in Massachusetts in the early Revolutionary War on June 17, 1775. The colonist armies lost, but this battle gave them a major confidence boost and brought up their spirits about holding their own in this war. -
Battle of Trenton
The Battle of Trenton took place in Trenton, New Jersey on the morning of December 26, 1776. This was a small battle which the colonists won, but it was important because the over dramatic victory rallied the colonists and got more people to join the colonial army. -
Battle of Brandywine
The Battle of Brandywine was fought on September 11, 1777 in Philadelphia on a very foggy day. The colonists lost this war, but they did not let it have any real effect on them because they thought they lost from poor fighting and confusion. This caused the Colonial army to be more cautious.
