-
French and Indian War
Called the Seven Years' War, the war was from 1754-1763. The war was fought between the colonies of British America and New France. (https://history.state.gov/milestones/1750-1775/french-indian-war) -
The Treaty of Paris (1763)
The signing of the treaty formally ended the Seven Years' War, known as the French and Indian War in the North American theatre and marked the beginning of an era of British dominance outside Europe.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_(1763)) -
The Stamp Act
This was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain that imposed a direct tax on the colonies of British America and required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp. These printed materials were legal documents, magazines, playing cards, newspapers and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies.
(http://www.history.org/history/teaching/tchcrsta.cfm) -
Townshend Acts
(June 15–July 2, 17670). Four acts passed by the British Parliament in an attempt to assert what it considered to be its historic right to exert authority over the colonies through suspension of a recalcitrant representative assembly and through strict provisions for the collection of revenue duties. The British American colonists named the acts after Charles Townshend, who sponsored them.
(http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/601114/Townshend-Acts) -
British Troops in Boston
A group of British regulars arrived in Boston, MA to maintain order. The civilians reacted to the redcoats like they were invaders by taunting them through name calling, spitting, and fighting.
(http://www.bostonmassacre.net/timeline.htm) -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, on December 16, 1773. The demonstrators, some disguised as American Indians, destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent by the East India Company, in defiance of the Tea Act of May 10, 1773. They boarded the ships and threw the chests of tea into Boston Harbor, ruining the tea.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party) -
The First Continental Congress
12/13 colonies. September 5 to October 26, 1774 at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Congress met briefly to consider options, including an economic boycott of British trade; rights and grievances; and petitioned King George III for redress of those grievances. The Congress also called for another Continental Congress in the event that their petition was unsuccessful in halting enforcement of the Intolerable Acts.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Continental_Congress) -
Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy, and Cambridge, near Boston. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen of its colonies on the mainland of British America.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Lexington_and_Concord) -
The Second Continental Congress
The second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It was a reconvening of the First Continental Congress. Many of the same 56 delegates who attended the first meeting were in attendance at the second, and the delegates appointed the same president (Peyton Randolph) and secretary (Charles Thomson).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Continental_Congress) -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill, during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War. While the result was a victory for the British, they suffered heavy losses: over 800 wounded and 226 killed. The battle is seen as an example of a Pyrrhic victory, because the immediate gain (the capture of Bunker Hill) was modest and did not significantly change the state of the siege.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bunker_Hill) -
Washington Assumes Command
On June 15, 1775, General George Washington was voted commander-in-chief of the Continental army by the American Congress. However, he did not arrive in Massachusetts to assume his duties until July 3, 1775. The army which Washington met at Cambridge was largely an untrained and undisciplined lot. Consisting mostly of local farmers, a few artisans, The soldiers lived in tents and other makeshift shelters. Supplies came in sporadically.
(http://dcn.davis.ca.us/vme/vo/5.html) -
Dunmore's Proclamation
Written by John Murray, royal governor of the British Colony of Virginia. The Proclamation declared martial law and promised freedom for slaves of American Patriots who left their masters and joined the royal forces. Formally proclaimed on November 14. The proclamation ultimately failed in meeting Dunmore's objectives; he was forced out of the colony in 1776, taking about 300 former slaves with him.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunmore%27s_Proclamation) -
Battle of Quebec
The Battle of Quebec was fought between American Continental Army forces 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.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Quebec_(1775)) -
Declaration of Independence
Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston and Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration, although it was mostly Jefferson. They wrote it to declare to the world, that the British Colonies in America were declaring themselves an independent nation and to explain why the colonies were declaring independence.
(http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/jefferson/aa_jefferson_declar_1.html) -
Washington Crossing the Delaware
It was the first move in a surprise attack organized by George Washington against the Hessian forces in Trenton, New Jersey on the morning of December 26. Planned in partial secrecy, Washington led a column of Continental Army troops across the icy Delaware River in a logistically challenging and dangerous operation.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington%27s_crossing_of_the_Delaware_River) -
Battle of Brandywine
The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American army of General George Washington and the British army of General Sir William Howe. The British defeated the Americans and forced them to withdraw toward the American capital of Philadelphia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Brandywine) -
Valley Forge Encampment
With winter almost setting in, and with the prospects for campaigning greatly diminishing, General George Washington sought quarters for his men. Washington and his troops had fought what was to be the last major engagement of 1777 at the Battle of White Marsh in early December.
(http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/washington-leads-troops-into-winter-quarters-at-valley-forge) -
British Capture Charleston
In June 1776, the British navy tried to capture the Charleston Harbor but failed. After losing the Battles at Saratoga, the British concentrated on the Southern Colonies. When General Cornwallis' men attacked, the Patriots had no chance. Since the British had them surrounded, they could make no retreat and on May 12, 1780 General Lincoln surrendered to the British.
(http://www.hobart.k12.in.us/gemedia/amrev/revwar/2charles.htm) -
Battle of Kings Mountain
The Battle of Kings Mountain was a decisive victory in North Carolina for the Patriot militia over the Loyalist militia in the Southern campaign of the American Revolutionary War. Ferguson had arrived in North Carolina in early September 1780 to recruit troops for the Loyalist militia and protect the flank of Lord Cornwallis' main force. Ferguson issued a challenge to the rebel militias to lay down their arms or suffer the consequences.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kings_Mountain) -
Surrender at Yorktown
America declared its independence in 1776, but it took another five years to win freedom from the British. That day came on October 19, 1781, when the British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered his troops in Yorktown, Virginia.
(http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/revolut/jb_revolut_yorktown_1.html) -
The Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States of America on 3 September 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War. This treaty, along with the separate peace treaties between Great Britain and the nations that supported the American cause: France, Spain and the Dutch Republic, are known collectively as the Peace of Paris.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_%281783%29)
