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The Stamp Act
Britain passes the Stamp Act, imposing a tax on legal documents, newspapers, even playing cards. This is the first direct tax on the American colonists and is hotly resisted. A successful American campaign to have the act repealed will give Americans confidence that they can avoid future taxes as well. -
The Massachusetts Government Act
The British Parliament passes the Coercive Acts, often called the Intolerable Acts in America. Among other actions, Britain closes the port of Boston and requires British troops to be housed in taverns and vacant buildings. The acts generate considerable sympathy for Massachusetts among other colonies. -
The Quebec Act
The Battle of Quebec was fought on December 31, 1775, between American Continental Army and the British defenders of Quebec City early in the American Revolutionary War. The battle was the first major defeat of the war for the Americans, and it came with heavy losses. General Richard Montgomery was killed, Benedict Arnold was wounded, and Daniel Morgan and more than 400 men were taken prisoner. -
The battle of long island
British noticed that New York was a center for communication. Washington marched his troops from Boston to New York. The British attacked, forcing Washington to cross the East River into Manhattan. Washington left 3,000 men to defend Fort Washington, and then headed north. -
The Battle of Saratoga
The Battles of Saratoga (September 19 to October 7, 1777) was a turning point in the Revolution when the continental armies guerrilla tactics paid off. -
Battle of Yorktown
The battle of Yorktown, although it did not end the war, was the last major battle of the war. Greene used hit and run tactics to inflict damage on the British. General Nathaniel Greene replaced General Gates in October 1780. Rather than all out attack on Cornwallis, This guerilla a warfare managed to drive the British towards the coast and back into Yorktown. -
The Treaty of Paris
This treaty, along with the separate peace treaties between Britain and the nations that supported the American cause—France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic—are known collectively as the Peace of Paris. This was what ended the fighting within the American colonial territories. Its territories given up by the British were "exceedingly generous" to the United States in terms of enlarged boundaries. -
The Articles of Confederation
A convention of states in Philadelphia proposes the Constitution to replace the much looser central government operating under the Articles of Confederation (adopted in 1777). With amendments, the Constitution remains the framework of government in the U.S.