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French and Indian War
the American phase of a worldwide nine years war fought between France and Great Britain. As a result of the war, France ceded all of its North American possessions east of the Mississippi River to Britain. The costs of the war contributed to the British government’s decision to impose new taxes on its American colonies. -
The stamp act
The Stamp Act of 1765 was ratified by the British parliament under King George III. It imposed a tax on all papers and official documents in the American colonies, though not in England. This was important because the colonies rebelled against this act and created " no taxation without representation". -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a deadly riot that occurred on March 5, 1770, on King Street in Boston. It began as a street brawl between American colonists and a lone British soldier, but quickly escalated to a chaotic, bloody slaughter. This event paved the way for the American Revolution. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, approximately 342 chests of tea were thrown into the sea off of ships as to protest both a tax on tea (taxation without representation) and the perceived monopoly of the East India Company. -
Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” speech
Convinced that war with Great Britain was inevitable, Virginian Patrick Henry defended strong resolutions for equipping the Virginia militia to fight against the British in a fiery speech in a Richmond church with the famous words, “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. It kicked off the war. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Breed’s Hill in Charlestown was the primary focus of combat in the Battle of Bunker Hill, which was part of the American siege of British-held Boston. 2,300 British troops eventually cleared the hill of the entrenched Americans, but at the cost of more than 40 percent of the assault force. The battle was a moral victory for the Americans. -
Thomas Paine's Common Sense
Is a 47 page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine and first published in Philadelphia in January 1776, was against the injustice of rule by a king. But its author also made an argument that Americans had a unique opportunity to change the course of history by creating a new sort of government in which people were free and had the power to rule themselves. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence, the founding document of the United States, was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain. -
Washington crosses the Delaware
Having been forced to abandon New York City and driven across New Jersey by the British, George Washington and the Continental Army struck back on Christmas night by crossing the ice-strewn Delaware River, surprising the Hessian garrison at Trenton at dawn, and taking some 900 prisoners. This roused the new country and kept the struggle for independence alive. -
Battle of Valley Forge
In December, 1777, General George Washington moved the Continental Army to their winter quarters at Valley Forge. Though Revolutionary forces had secured a pivotal victory at Saratoga in September and October, Washington's army suffered defeats at Brandywine, Paoli, and Germantown, Pennsylvania. -
France and the United States form an alliance
The French had secretly furnished financial and material aid to the Americans since 1776, but with the signing in Paris of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance, the Franco-American alliance was formalized. France began preparing fleets and armies to enter the fight but did not formally declare war on Britain until June 1778. -
Battle of Yorktown
When British General Lord Charles Cornwallis and his army surrendered to General George Washington’s American force and its French allies at the Battle of Yorktown on October 19, 1781. This event was the final battle against the British. -
Treaty of Paris ends the war
After the British defeat at Yorktown, the land battles in America largely died out but the fighting continued at sea, chiefly between the British and America’s European allies, which came to include Spain and the Netherlands. The verdict in North America was reflected in the preliminary Anglo American peace treaty, which was included in the Treaty of Paris of 1783. So Britain recognized the independence of the United States with boundaries.