-
French and Indian War - 1754 to 1763
The French and Indian war wasn’t a fight between the French and Indians, the French and Indians were allies. The war was between the French and British. The French and British were fighting over unclaimed land which is the Ohio River Valley. -
Treaty of Paris - 1763
By 1763, France was ready to make peace with Britain. The two country's signed an agreement called the Treaty of Paris.
The Treaty of Paris gave Britain control of Canada and most land east of the Mississippi River. -
Proclamation of 1763
To prevent any more fighting with American Indians, the British issued the Proclamation of 1763. It was an official statement that restricted settlement on Indian territory. -
Sugar Act 1764
The Sugar Act occurred after the French and Indian war. It was a law that placed a tax on sugar and other goods, such as coffee and wine to help generate money after the war. The colonists were upset and tried to avoid paying the tax smuggling. -
Stamp Act 1765
The Sugar Act replaced the Stamp Act. This placed a tax on everything made of paper. Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty organized protests against the Stamp Act. -
Stamp Act Congress 1765
In October 1765, nine colonists were sent to a meeting in New York City called the Stamp Act Congress. The congress decided that only colonial government could tax the colonists. -
Townshend Act 1767
The Parliament repealed the Stamp Act and passed the Townshend Act. The Townshend Act taxed goods like tea, lead, paint, paper and glass. -
Committee of Correspondence 1772
News traveled slowly. Boston set up a Committee of Correspondence to share news with colonists. They sent out letters to other colonies to share information about the British. -
Intolerable Acts 1773
Lord Fredrick North passed laws called the Coercive Acts to punish the colonists in Massachusetts. The colonists called these laws the Intolerable Acts. The laws stopped between Boston and Britain more control over the colony's government -
Boston Tea Party - December 16, 1773
The Boston tea party happened because the colonists hated being taxed by the British government. On the night of December 16, 1773, dozens of Sons of Liberty boarded ships illegally and threw thousands of pounds of tea into the ocean. -
2nd Continental Congress 1775
When British government refused to meet the demands of the 1st Continental Congress, the colonial delegates gathered again in Philadelphia. This meeting was known as the 2nd Continental Congress. They created an army to fight against the British called the Continental Army. They chose George Washington as commander. -
Battle of Lexington & Concord - April 19, 1775
The British soldiers reached Lexington just before sunrise on April 19, 1775. A small group of minutemen were waiting there, a British officer told them to leave. As they turned to go, there was a shot fired and it was known as the shot heard around the world. -
Bunker Hill - June 17, 1775
The militia wanted to build a fort on Bunker Hill to fire cannons across the Charles River in Boston. Instead they chose to build their fort on Breed's Hill because it was closer to Boston. They worked all night to build 6 foot tall dirt walls. The fighting began the next morning. The British won after the third round. -
Thomas Paine's Common Sense - January 1776
Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet called Common Sense. This pushed for independence from Britain. He wrote King George treated the colonies unfairly. Over 100,000 copies of Common Sense sold within a few months. -
Declaration of Independence - July 4, 1776
Thomas Jefferson and four others wrote the Declaration of Independence to declare why the colonies had become independent from Britain. On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted to accept the Declaration. The Declaration states equal rights for all. -
Battle of Yorktown - Summer of 1781
American soldiers made a surprise attack against the British in Yorktown, VA. This victory gave the United States independence. -
Treaty of Paris - Sept. 3, 1783
On September 3, 1783, the United States and Britain signed The Treaty of Paris. The treaty gave patriots the two things they wanted the most. First, King George III agreed that the United States of America was an independent nation. Second, the American's gained land. The United States now reached north to British Canada, west to the Mississippi River and south to Spanish Florida.
