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1765
the British Parliament passed the “Stamp Act” to help pay for British troops stationed in the colonies during the Seven Years' War. -
1774
British Parliament passed a series of laws collectively known as the Intolerable Acts, with the intent to suppress unrest in colonial Boston by closing the port and placing it under martial law. In response, colonial protestors led by a group called the Sons of Liberty issued a call for a boycott. -
1776
the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain. -
1781
General George Washington, commanding a force of 17,000 French and Continental troops, begins the siege known as the Battle of Yorktown against British General Lord Charles Cornwallis -
1783
A treaty between the United States and Great Britain is signed in Paris, formally ending the American Revolutionary War -
1787
The Constitution of the United States established America's national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. -
1864
Abraham Lincoln appoints Ulysses S. Grant commander in chief of all Union armies. -
1870
Georgia became the last of the Confederate states to return to the Union. The Franco-Prussian War began. The war was provoked by Otto von Bismarck, the Prussian leader, as part of his plan to unite Germany.