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Zenger Trial
Peter Zenger was tried for "seditious libel" against his governor, but was found innocent as the claims were found to be true. This trial led to later revolution of freedom of the press. -
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Albany congress
The meeting of British Colonial Representatives and Iroqouis delegates in attempts to gain the Iroqouis support against the French and to strengthen Colonial unity. The Albany plan was led by Benjamin Franklin and failed to gain any individual Colonial support as Colonists were afraid that the plan might lend too much power to England, even though England felt just the opposite. -
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Seven Years' War
The ongoing conflicts between British and French armies both in the New World and in Europe over land, resources, and gold. George Washington played a significant role in this war with his struggle for Fort Necessity. This war was one of the largest in pre-independence America and had a great impact over the later controlling of territory. -
Treaty of Paris
This treaty was the agreement signed by Britan, France and Spain ending the Seven Yers' War. This very significantly ended with Britan gaining a very significant aquisition of land while France and Spain retreated to their further territories, creating what is today the more Hispanic and Frech influenced regions of North America. -
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Pontiac's War
After the British won the Sever Years' War, Native American tribes went on the defensive for a period, until Chief Pontiac of the Seneca gathered troops to attack and eventually capture most of the British forts west of the Appalachian. King George instituted the Proclaimation of 1763 which prohibited British colonists from settling beyond the eastern side of the Appalachian. -
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Sugar Act
This was a tax imposed by the British as a revenue-raising beneficiary for solely the British. The tax was placed on sugar imported from Britain to the New World, and as this was the only allowed means of importing, this was quite a bugger of a problem. This was the start of the annoyances that led further off to the Revolutionary War. -
Creation of the Stamp Act
A second taxation act ratified soon after the sugar act, the stamp act was imposed on all paper imported from Britain, which constituted more of the total imports than sugar. This too led to rising anger and movements toward the Revolution. -
Ratification of the Declaratory Act and Repeal of the Stamp Act
This Act stated that the British Parliament's authority was the same in America as in Britain and asserted Parliament's authority to pass laws that were binding on the American colonies.The passing of this Act outraged a select few who saw through the ruse of repealing the Stamp Act, leading to further malfeelings. -
The Boston Massacre
British troops stationed in Boston killed 11 colonists in alleged order to protect Crown-appointed Officials enforcing Parliamentary legislation. Tensions rose from this event, and plans to counter the British were forming. -
Passing of the Tea Act
This was supposed to convince the colonists to buy British tea, so that the Colonists are convinced to agree to accept Parliament's right of taxation. The Act granted the British companies the right to directly ship its tea to North America and the right to the duty-free export of tea from Britain, although the tax imposed by the Townshend Acts and collected in the colonies remained in force. -
Boston Tea Party
When British merchants refused to return 3 shiploads of Tea at the Boston Harbor, the Sons of Liberty decided to take action based on their belief that they should not be taxed without consent. The group snuck to the ship at night and stole and dumpud in the Boston Harbor all the shipped tea. -
Commencing of the Intolerable Acts
In response to the Boston Tea Party, Britain created 5 (some dispute other smaler acts being included as well) Acts intended for the most part to contain and stop the protest of colonists. These acts include the Quartering, Quebec, Administration of Justice, Boston Port, and Massachusetts Government Acts. -
First Continental Congress
Called between 12 British Northa American Colonies in Phildaphia in response to the passage of the Intolerable Acts. Boycotts, appeals and other plans to stop the acts were planned through this congress and a second later congress, but to little avail. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
First two battles fought in the American Revolutionary War. Colonial Militia leader Lieutenant Francis Smith heard word of British troops being sent to destroy military equipment in Lexington. Smith led the battle early the next morning but retreated as the Redcoats moved on to Concord to search for supplies which Smith had scattered tco other locations. At concord Reinforcements of Colonial Milita greatly overpowered the British army, eventually leading to a success. -
Second Continental Congress
Including now 13 colonies, the Second Continental Congress was held soon after the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. The second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. -
Fort Ticonderoga
Less than one month after the American Revolutionary War was ignited with the battles of Lexington and Concord, the British garrison of 48 soldiers was surprised by a small force of Green Mountain Boys, along with militia volunteers from Massachusetts and Connecticut, led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold. The Colonists won the battle and the Fort, gaining invaluable supplies that gretly aided their later victory. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
On June 13, 1775, the leaders of the colonial forces besieging Boston learned that the British generals were planning to send troops out from the city to occupy the unoccupied hills surrounding the city. In response to this intelligence, 1,200 colonial troops under the command of William Prescott occupied Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill, constructed an earthen redoubt on Breed's Hill, and built lightly fortified. The British defeated the Colonists, though they suffered severe casualties. -
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Olive Branch Petiton
In attempts to avoid full-blown war with Britain after being judged traitors by the British from their Proclomation of Rebellion, the Olive Branch Petition was made. Drafted by T. Jefferson and written by J. Dickinson, the Petition was intended to stop the path toward violence so long as the British remove the Intolerable Acts. Instead of accepting, the king issued a Proclaimation for surpressing Rebellion and sedition, ending the petition outright. The rejection pushed all independace-seekers. -
Common Sense
Common Sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that had the largest proportional success in American History. It presented the American colonists with an argument for freedom from British rule at a time when the question of seeking independence was still undecided. -
VA Declaration of Rights
The Virginia Declaration of Rights is a document drafted in 1776 to proclaim the inherent rights of men, including the right to rebel against "inadequate" government. It influenced a number of later documents, including the United States Declaration of Independence (1776), the United States Bill of Rights (1789), and the French Revolution's Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789). -
Signing of the U.S. Declaration of Independence
This Document, signed by representatives of all 13 colonies, declared that the colonies regarded themselves separate of Great Britain, saying that they could no longer take British mistreatment and seceeded for the protection of the inalienable rights. -
Battle of Long Island
This battle was the first major battle in the American Revolutionary War following the United States Declaration of Independence, the largest battle of the entire conflict, and the first battle in which an army of the United States engaged, having declared itself a nation only the month before. -
Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom
This Bill was drafted and intended for Virginia, where the Anglican Church held authority. The Bill disestablished the denomination and promoted free practice of religion. -
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Battles of Saratoga
This battle is generally regarded as the turning point of the Revolutionary War.When the American Revolutionary War approached the two-year point, the British changed their plans. Giving up on the rebellious New England colonies, they decided to split the Thirteen Colonies and isolate New England from what the British believed to be the more loyal middle and southern colonies. The British command devised a grand plan to divide the colonies via a three-way pincer movement in 1777. -
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Valley Forge
The Valley Forge was a location in which General Washington quartered the American Continental Army of 12,000 during a campaign of the Revolutionary War, after the battle of White Marsh. The men were weary, sick, and dying, but they managed to shelter in and fortify Valley Forge against potential British attack. -
Ratification of the Articles of Confederation
Through the span of 3 years, ending with Maryland's ratification, the Articles of Confederation were the first constitution of the U.S. Its drafting by the Continental Congress began in mid 1776, and an approved version was sent to the states for ratification in late 1777. -
Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown was a decisive victory by both the forces of American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington and French Army troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis. The Yorktown campaign proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War in North America, as the surrender by Cornwallis of his army prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict -
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on one side and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The treaty document was signed at the Hotel d'York – which is now 56 Rue Jacob – by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay (representing the United States) and David Hartley (a member of the British Parliament representing the British Monarch, King George III). -
Land of Ordinance of 1785
The Land Ordinance of 1785 was adopted by the United States Congress on May 20, 1785. Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress did not have the power to raise revenue by direct taxation of the inhabitants of the United States. Therefore, the immediate goal of the ordinance was to raise money through the sale of land in the largely unmapped territory west of the original states acquired at the 1783 (Treaty of Paris) after the end of the Revolutionary War. -
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
was an act of the Congress of the Confederation of the United States, passed July 13, 1787. The ordinance created Northwest Territory as the first organized territory of the United States out of the region south of the Great Lakes, north and west of the Ohio River, and east of the Mississippi River.it established the precedent by which the federal government would be sovereign and expand westward across North America with the admission of new states. -
Inauguration of George Washington
The inauguration marked the commencement of the first four-year term of George Washington as President. John Adams had already taken office as Vice President since April 21. Sworn in by Chancellor of New York Robert Livingston during this first presidential inauguration, Washington became the first President of the United States following the ratification of the Constitution.