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The Mayflower lands at Plymouth Rock
After first stopping near today's Provincetown. According to spoken tradition, Plymouth Rock was the site where William Bradford and other Pilgrims first set foot on land. -
Pennsylvania Becomes a Colony.
The date is officially April 2. The King named the new colony in honor of William Penn's father. William Penn settled a debt of £16,000. And he founded a proprietary colony that provided a place of religious freedom for Quakers. -
The French and Indian War
It was the theater of the Seven Years' War, which dented the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. -
The Sugar Act
It is also known as the American Revenue Act 1764 or the American Duties Act. The Sugar Acts reduced the rate of tax on molasses from six pence to three pence per gallon. -
The Currency Act
It was one of several Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain. It sought to protect British merchants and creditors from being paid in discredited colonial currency. -
The Stamp Act
England wanted to pay their troops in the colonies, so they passed the Stamp Act. It put a tax on papers, documents, and other stuff. If the colonists didn’t pay, they were punished unfairly without a jury. The colonists hated this act. For them, it was an example of “taxation without representation.” -
The Quartering Act
It was the two or more acts of British Parliament local governments of the American colonies to provide the British soldiers with housing and food. Each Quartering act was a change to the Mutiny Act and required annual renewal by Parliament. -
The Townshend Revenue Act
It imposed duties on British china, glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea imported to the colonies. -
The Boston Massacre
It was a confrontation in Boston. British soldiers shot and killed several people whom they recognized to be a mob. It was heavily reported by leading Patriots such as Paul Revere and Samuel Adams. -
The Boston Tea Party
It was an American rade protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” so they threw 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. -
The First Continental Congress
It was a meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 British colonies that became the United States. Their primary accomplishment was a compact among the colonies to boycott British goods beginning on December 1, 1774. -
The Second Continental Congress
It was a meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies in America that united in the American Revolutionary War. They work as a de facto national government. -
Patrick Henry’s “Give me Liberty or give me Death” speech
Patrick Henry argued that a volunteer militia should be organized and armed in every county of Virginia to prepare to defend themselves from Great Britain. -
The Ride of Paul Revere
He is best known for his midnight ride to aware the colonial militia in April 1775 to the approach of British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, "Paul Revere's Ride" -
George Washington named Commander in Chief
The Continental Congress got tasked George Washington as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army on June 19, 1775. Washington was selected over other applicants such as John Hancock based on his earlier military experience and the hope that a leader from Virginia could help unite the colonies.