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1754-1763: French and Indian War
The treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian War, the American phase of a worldwide 9 years war fought between France and Great Britain. -
Stamp Act
The stamp act was imposed to provide increased revenues to meet the costs of defending the British Empire -
Townshend Acts
A tax that the British parliament passed that was placed on leads, glass, paint and tea -
Boston Massacre
The first bloodshed of the American Revolution (1770), as British guards at the Boston customs house, opened fire on a crowd killing five Americans -
Boston Tea Party
A 1773 protest against British taxes in which Boston colonists disguised as mohawks dumped valuable tea into Boston harbor -
Intolerable acts
Series of laws passed in 1774, to punish Boston for the Tea Party -
First Continental congress
Delegates from all colonies except Georgia met to discuss problems with Britain and to promote independence -
Patrick Henry speech
Belief that Americans had the same rights as English
Virginians should only pay taxes that were passed by the virginia assembly -
Paul Reveres ride and the Battle of Lexington and Concord
American silversmith remembered for his midnight ride to warn the colonists in Lexington and Concord that British troops were coming -
Battle of Bunker hill
First major battle of the American Revolution; ended in colonial defeat. Historical Significance: The British suffered heavy casualties, including a notably large number of officers. -
Thomas Paines Common sense
Pamphlet that encouraged the Colonists to fight the British -
Declaration of independence
the document recording the proclamation of the second Continental Congress (4 July 1776) asserting the independence of the colonies from Great Britain -
Washington crosses the Delaware
surprise attack on Christmas Eve on the German soldiers -
Washington's winter at Valley Forge
Washingtons winter was full of semi-starvation, bitter cold, diseases , and discipline. -
France and the United States Form an alliance
The Treaty of Alliance with France was signed on February 6, 1778, creating a military alliance between the United States and France against Great Britain. -
John Paul Jones: "I have not yet begun to fight"
This was the immortal retort of Captain John Paul Jones to a request to surrender as he and his crew engaged in a desperate battle with a British frigate off the northern coast of England during the American Revolution. -
Benedict Arnold turns traitor
American General who was labeled a traitor when he assisted the British in a failed attempt to take the American fort at West Point. -
Articles of confederation ratified
The Articles of Confederation, a plan of government organization that served as a bridge between the initial government by the Continental Congress and the federal government provided under the U.S. Constitution of 1787, were written in 1776–77 and adopted by Congress on November 15, 1777. -
Siege of Yorktown
After winning a costly victory at Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina, on March 15, 1781, Lord Cornwallis entered Virginia to join other British forces there, setting up a base at Yorktown. -
Treaty of Paris ends 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.
