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Enlightenment
Part of a movement referred to by its participants as the Age of Reason, or simply the Enlightenment.
The Enlightenment produced numerous books, essays, inventions, scientific discoveries, laws, wars and revolutions. -
Sons of Liberty
The Sons of Liberty was a secret underground society created due to the social and political fallout of the French and Indian War. The war took place throughout the world, was just one part of a larger conflict called the Seven Years War, the French and Indian War, coupled with the fighting throughout the globe, nearly pushed the British Empire to the brink of financial collapse due to the increased spending needed to fight an international -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a deadly riot that occurred on March 5, 1770, on King Street in Boston.
The conflict energized anti-British sentiment and paved the way for the American Revolution. -
Boston tea party
American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing taxation without representation, dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor.
It showed Great Britain that Americans would not tolerate taxation and tyranny sitting down, and rallied American patriots across the 13 colonies to fight for independence. -
Intolerable Acts
known as the Intolerable Acts in the American colonies, were a series of four laws passed by the British Parliament to punish the colony of Massachusetts Bay for the Boston Tea Party. The four acts were the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, and the Quartering Act. The Quebec Act of 1774 is sometimes included as one of the Coercive Acts, although it was not related to the Boston Tea Party. -
First Continental Congress meets
In reaction to the Intolerable Acts, a series of measures imposed by the British government after the colonies resisted new taxes. -
Second Continental Congress meets
It was just a month after shots had been fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, and the Congress was preparing for war. They established a Continental army and elected George Washington as Commander-in-Chief, but the delegates also drafted the Olive Branch Petition and sent it to King George III in hopes of reaching a peaceful resolution. The king refused to hear the petition and declared the American colonies in revolt. -
Battles of Lexington & Concord
Massachusetts colonists defied British authority, outnumbered and outfought the Redcoats, and embarked on a lengthy war to earn their independence. -
Olive Branch Petition sent to England
The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by Congress on July 5, 1775, to be sent to the King as a last attempt to prevent formal war from being declared. The Petition emphasized their loyalty to the British crown and emphasized their rights as British citizens. -
Townshend Act of 1767
The Townshend Acts were a series of measures, passed by the British Parliament in 1767, that taxed goods imported to the American colonies. But American colonists, who had no representation in Parliament, saw the Acts as an abuse of power. The British sent troops to America to enforce the unpopular new laws, further heightening tensions between Great Britain and the American colonies in the run-up to the American Revolutionary War. -
Declaration of Independence adopted
the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain. The Declaration summarized the colonists’ motivations for seeking independence. By declaring themselves an independent nation, the American colonists were able to confirm an official alliance with the Government of France and obtain French assistance in the war against Great Britain. -
3/5 Compromise
It determined that three out of every five slaves were counted when determining a state's total population for legislative representation and taxation. -
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Battle of Yorktown
The outcome in Yorktown, Virginia marked the conclusion of the last major battle of the American Revolution and the start of a new nation's independence.
It also cemented Washington’s reputation as a great leader and eventual election as first president of the United States. -
Common sense published
Common Sense is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775 to 1776 that inspired people in the Thirteen Colonies to declare and fight for independence from Great Britain in the summer of 1776. The pamphlet explained the advantages of and the need for immediate independence in clear, simple language. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was signed by U.S. and British Representatives on September 3, 1783, ending the War of the American Revolution. Based on a1782 preliminary treaty, the agreement recognized U.S. independence and granted the U.S. significant western territory. The 1783 Treaty was one of a series of treaties signed at Paris in 1783 that also established peace between Great Britain and the allied nations of France, Spain, and the Netherlands. -
Constitution is ratified
the Constitution became the official framework of the government of the United States of America when New Hampshire became the ninth of 13 states to ratify it. The journey to ratification, however, was a long and arduous process.