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Treaty of Paris 1763
Ended the French and Indian war. Great Britain obtains Ohio river valley, doubling the size of the colonies. The French also lost all their territory in Northern America. -
Proclamation of 1763
Great Britain withheld the colonists from settling past the Appalachian mountains, in fear of Native American attacks after Pontiacs Rebellion -
Sugar Act of 1764
Great Britain issued higher taxes on molasses and sugar from the West Indies. This angered many colonists in America, after harsh protests Britain late decided to lower the taxes a considerable amount. -
Stamp Act of 1765
This act required American Colonists to buy and print on paper stamped in London. This paper also had a high tax on it. It was eventually repealed in 1766 March 18. -
Quartering Act of 1765
Law passed by parliament in Britain, colonists were required to provide food and shelter for British soldiers in America. This renewed the anger of the colonists, they thought the soldiers were only there to watch them. -
Townshend Act 1765
Taxes were put on everyday things, like glass, lead, paper, paint, and tea. Colonists furious, most Townshend acts repealed in 1770, except the tea taxes, colonists still angry. -
Stamp act congress of 1765
People from different colonies came together in a congress to plead the king to repeal the stamp act, and plan a protest against the taxes. Unfortunately it was ignored by England, but the congress did improve colonial unity. -
Declaratory Act of 1766
A declaration by Britain stating they have complete control over taxes in America, the same amount as they have in Britain. The Stamp Act was also repealed Inn this declaration. -
Boston Massacre 1770
Colonists still refused to pay Townshend Act taxes, they found it cheaper to instead smuggle tea. British troops were sent to Boston in 1768 to enforce order. A fight broke out in 1770 after the soldiers were harassed by colonists, five colonists were shot and killed. This event proved to be effective propaganda greatly influencing the colonists. -
Boston Tea Part, 1773
The British had an excess of 17 million pounds of tea they needed to get rid of, so they decided to sell it all to the colonists and tax it. This came in the Townshend act, most were repealed, but the tea tax remained. Colonists wanted taxation with representation, this tax infuriated them. Some colonists dressed up as Indians and dumped 342 chests of tea into the ocean, this was known as the Boston Tea Party. -
Intolerable acts of 1774
After the Boston tea party, Britain punished Massachusetts by issuing the the so called, “Intolerable acts”. Officials would be sent back to Britain for trial. The coercive act required Boston to pay for the tea, and until then, all Boston ports would be closed. Massachusetts was also put under British military control. -
The First Continental Congress, 1774
Delegates from each colony came together in Philadelphia to discuss the arising problems concerning the British and Massachusetts. People from every colony except Georgia came. They worked on a solution to Boston’s ports being closed, and sent a request to the king asking to repeal the Coercive acts. This continental congress greatly improved the colonies’ unity. -
Battle at Lexington and Concord, 1775
The British sent troops to Lexington and concord after hearing the patriots were keeping powder and weapons there. The British arrived, meeting opposing colonist troops, a shot was fired, and the battle had begun. But not only had just a battle begun, this battle marked the beginning of the Revolutionary war. There were nearly 300 casualties, hothead Americans lost less. -
Second Continental Congress 1775
Delegates from all thirteen colonies showed up to this congress. The delegates were bent on managing the colonial war and unifying the colonies, which was already shown when everyone showed at the congress. The Olive Branch Petition was also created, it pledged American loyalty to the crown and asked the king to revert any more hostilities. Once again the king rejected a request of peace from the Americans. -
Battle of Bunker Hill 1775
During the siege of Boston, the American troops led by George Washington attacked Boston, failing, and retreating. The British decided to follow and wipe them out. They made the fatal mistake of charging a frontal assault on the retreating soldiers. Washington used this to his advantage and quickly wiped out hundreds of British upon Breed’s Hill. Washington lost the battle 1500 to 3000 but the British suffered many more casualties than the Continental army. It was a big moral victory for America -
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, 1775
Most colonists were in favor of the idea to be independent from their mother country. After Thomas Paine released his best seller at, Common Sense, giving reasons why we should be independent, a lot more colonists began fighting for independence in America. -
Declaration of Independence 1776
Richard Henry Lee explained his idea of independence to other colony delegates, and eventually gained their support. After this Thomas Jefferson was told to write the Declaration of Independence. It is said to be “the greatest editorial of all time” as it was derived from Richard H. Lee’s ideas, it was not original. Thomas Jefferson also evoked natural rights into the document, along with an explanation of independence. This document officially states America’s independence. -
Battle of Long Island 1776
A British fleet of around five hundred ships and 35,000 British troops invaded the New York coast. George Washington and his 18,000 troops fled to Manhattan Island and went north crossing the Hudson River arriving in New Jersey. This battle was one of the biggest losses for America. -
Battles of Saratoga 1777
General Horatio Gates led a campaign of battles to overpower General John Burgoyne. The British General eventually surrendered after the third battle in October 1777. Saratoga was one of the decisive wars of the Revolutionary war, and reinforced the patriotism of the colonists. -
France Joins the War 1778
Ben Franklin was sent to France as a envoy meant to negotiate an alliance between America and France. He eventually succeeds in 1778 with the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. The treaty regulations weren’t exactly what Congress wanted, but they were acceptable. France provided plenty of guns, money, troops and nearly the entire navy for the Colonists. -
Siege of Yorktown 1781
In this battle British occupied Yorktown is sieged by French and Continental troops. Admiral de Grasse and his Navy attacked from the coast and Washington’s troops formed a land blockade to trap the British. They succeeded on October 19th 1781. This battle was a big turning point in the war, victory was now in favor of the Americans and peace was beginning to be negotiated. -
Treaty of Paris 1783
The Treaty of Paris, 1783 was signed by American representatives and representatives of King George III in Paris. This marks the end of the Revolutionary war and officially identifies America as independent by the British.
