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The French and Indian War Ends
War debts come up. Great Britian has to come up with money to pay for the war, and taxing the colonists was the solution. -
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The Span of the Revolutionary road/war
The Revolutionary Road was a long and hard one, and what happened at the end resulted in the brave country known as The United States of America. -
Sugar Act
Act passed by parliament taxing molasses and sugar. This angered many colonist, and boycotted and protested until Parliament was forced to repeal. -
Stamp Act
When Sugar Act was repealed, Parliament tried again with the Stamp Act. This act taxed everyday paper goods, and again angered the colonists. This time, colonists created societies against these. It was again repealed. In the end, this also created the Sons of Liberty. -
The Townshend Acts
Taxes passed on almost every everday items including lead, glass, paints, paper, and tea were included in these acts. People hated these. Most of these taxes were repealed by Parliament over time, except for the tax on tea. This also created the Board of Customs Commissioners, which pretty much was the tax evasion squad. The Boycotting of these items got so intense, the crown sent in soldiers to keep the colonists in check. -
Boston Massacre
During a colonial riot, British soldiers fired into a crowd and ended up killing five colonists, causing further tensions between the crown and colonies. This massacre was signifigance as it foreshadowed violence and war. This proved the colonists were willing to die for their cause. -
Tea Act of 1773
Parliament, after taking away the Townshend Acts, wasn't done flexing it's political muscles. It took away all of the taxes in the Townshend Acts except for the tax on tea. It also monopolized the tea (or made sure that they could only get tea from there).This angered the colonists something awful, because everyone drunk tea like we drink coffee today. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea party was the result of the tea act. A bunch of colonists got together and dumped hundreads of pounds of tea into Boston Harbor. This was telling the British- "We don't need your tea." It was the colonists way of showing their independence towards Britian. -
The Intolerable Acts
Clickhere for more information.These acts were the colonist's punishment from the Boston Tea Party. These acts closed Boston and Massachusets harbor (which were major ports) took away the Massachusets charter, The Quartering Act, which forced colonists to house British soldiers whevever, and the Justice act, which made officers immune to any political prosecution. This was the last straw. -
The Battle at Lexington "the shot heard 'round the world"
The Battle at Lexington and Concord was never originally supposed to happen. It was the first battle of the Revolutionary War. The British and the Americans tangled at Lexington, and the Americans lost. No one knows who fired the first shot at Lexington, but the Americans did lose that battle. British forces then marched onto Concord. -
The Battle at Concord
The march onto Concord was difficult one for the British. During the march, the militia shot at the British from all angles, through the trees and underbrush where the British couldn't fight back. When the British finally arrived at Concord, the militia was shooting at them in houses, in which the British returned the favor by ransacking houses. -
The Battle of Bunker Hill
Click here for more information. The Battle of Bunker Hill didn't actually happen on Bunker Hill. It happened on Breed Hill, a hill right next to it, and it was also a British Victory. However, the British casualties were over 1,000 men, whereas the Americans were little over 400. Regardless, after this battle, the Americans had proved they weren't to be messed with. -
Common Sense
This pamphlet, published by Thomas Paine, stated the colonist's rights against Britian. It was a very popular pamplet, and it got a lot of attention, fanning the flames of the revolutionary war. This book called out the British for taxing the colonists, and rubbed it in their faces over and over again. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a document sent to Britian. This stated the colonists rights as well as what they wanted, and Britian did not like it. As opposed to popular belief, the document was not signed on the same day it was approved. The Declaration of Indepence was approved on July 4, but it took weeks before everyone signed it and it went to Britian. -
The Battle of Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga was the first real major win for the Colonists. However, it was actually two-fold and was originally a loss for the Militia. It helped by raising the colonists spirits and gave them fuel to fight the rest of the war. Saratoga's victory also caused France to help out the Americans because before they hadn't wanted to rattle the British. This victory gave the Americans new hope for the war. Click <href='http://www.ushistory.org/us/11g.asp' >here</a> to learn more. -
Valley Forge
Valley Forge was a dark time in the war for Independence. It was cold, spirits were falling, soldiers were dying, the colonists were ready to hang up their guns and surrender. Until George Washington came along. He motivated the colonists using the Declaration of Independence, reminding them of what they were fighting for. -
The Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown was the last real battle of the Revolutuionary War, and the most important. General Cornwallis, a British general, had this great plan to take down Boston. However, the colonists surrounded them, along with France and Spain, and Cornwallis was forced to surrender. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was the document that formally ended the Revolutionary War. Signed in Paris, this document gave the colonists freedom against Britian. Of course, there were smaller, informal battles after this, because naturally the colonists didn't hear about this until much later.
