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The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment included a range of ideas centered on the sovereignty of reason and the evidence of the senses as the primary sources of knowledge and advanced ideals such as liberty, progress, toleration, fraternity, constitutional government and separation of church and state. -
The French & Indian War
The French & Indian War was part of the seven years of war between France and England.They fought for control of North America and the rich fur trade. -
Sons of Liberty
Sons of Liberty was a group established to undermine British rule in colonial America and was influential in organizing The Boston Tea Party.Their motto was, “No taxation without representation.” The Bostonians Paying the Excise-man, or Tarring and Feathering, 1774. -
Stamp Act was passed
The Stamp Act was Parliament's first serious attempt to assert governmental authority over the colonies. Great Britain was faced with a massive national debt following the Seven Years War. -
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Townshed Acts
Charles Townshend, now chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced new regulations and taxes. the Townshend Act constituted an attempt by the British government to consolidate fiscal and political power over the American colonies by placing import taxes on many of the British products bought by Americans, including lead, paper, paint, glass and tea. -
The Boston Massacare
The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers. Several colonists were killed and this led to a campaign by speech-writers to rouse the ire of the citizenry. -
The Boston Tea Party
A political protest that occurred in Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of tea.The popular notion of the Boston Tea Party is that angry colonists “stuck it to King George” by boarding British ships and dumping crate loads of the King’s precious tea into the Boston Harbor. the Tea Act and Tea parties -
The intolerable Acts was passed
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.learn more -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on, kicked off the American Revolutionary War (1775-83). Tensions had been building for many years between residents of the 13 American colonies and the British authorities, particularly in Massachusetts. -
common sense and Independence
Thomas Paine published a persuasive pamphlet called Common Sense. Until Common Sense appeared, nearly everyone viewed Parliament, not the king, as the enemy. In Common Sense, Paine attacked King George III. Parliament, he wrote, did nothing without the king’s support. -
Declaration of Independence adopted
The Declaration of Independence is an important part of American democracy because first it contains the ideals or goals of our nation. Second it contains the complaints of the colonists against the British king. Third, it contains the arguments the colonists used to explain why they wanted to be free of British rule. -
The Articles of Confederation were created
One of these committees, created to determine the form of a confederation of the colonies, was composed of one representative from each colony. John Dickinson, the delegate from Delaware, was the principal writer.Articles of Confederation -
Battle of Yorktown
The culmination of the Yorktown campaign, the siege proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in the North American region, as the surrender by Cornwallis, and the capture of both him and his army, prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict. -
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The Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the United States, recognized American independence and established borders for the new nation. After the British defeat at Yorktown, peace talks in Paris began in April 1782 between Richard Oswarld representing Great Britain and the American Peace Commissioners Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and John Adams.
