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Timeline
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The stamp act
The Stamp Act of 1765 was ratified by the British parliament under King George III. It imposed a tax on all papers and official documents in the American colonies though not in England. -
Intolerable acts
The Intolerable Acts were a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 The laws aimed to punish Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest of the Tea Act, a tax measure enacted by Parliament in May 17 -
The Declaration of Independence
By issuing the Declaration of Independence,the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain. The Declaration summarized the colonists' motivations for seeking independence. -
The battle of Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga was a turning point in the Revolutionary War. The American defeat of the superior British army lifted patriot morale, furthered the hope for independence, and helped to secure the foreign support needed to win the war. -
The battle of Yorktown
Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown effectively ended the Revolutionary War. Lacking the financial resources to raise a new army, the British government appealed to the Americans for peace. Almost two years later, on September 3, 1783, the signing of the Treaty of Paris brought the war to an end. -
The treaty of Paris
This treaty, signed on September 3, 1783, between the American colonies and Great Britain, ended the American Revolution and formally recognized the United States as an independent nation. -
May 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation
The Federal Convention convened in the State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia on May 14, 1787, to revise the Articles of Confederation. Because the delegations from only two states were at first present, the members adjourned from day to day until a quorum of seven states was obtained on May 25. -
The U.S. is temporarily without a central government.
The federal government of the United States is the central reigning governmental body of the United States, established by the United States Constitution. The federal government is made of three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. State and local governments are modeled after the federal government.