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The French and Indian War was the North American conflict in a larger imperial war between Great Britain and France known as the Seven Years’ War. The French and Indian War began in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The French and Indian War resulted from ongoing frontier tensions in North America as both French and British imperial officials and colonists sought to extend each country’s sphere of influence in frontier regions. (history.state.gov)
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In March 1765, the British implemented the Stamp Act in America. It introduced a new tax payable on a wide range of printed media, such as newspapers, certificates, and letters. The tax was designed to help repay the British war debt the country had built up during the Seven Years’ War. The war lasted from 1756-63, and was mostly fought overseas, which was very costly for the British. (americanrevolution.org)
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The Townshend Acts were a series of laws enacted by the British parliament between 1767 and 1768, which imposed a range of new taxes and restrictions on the Thirteen Colonies in America. It included The Revenue Act,The Commissioners of Customs Act, The Indemnity Act, The New York Restraining Act, and The Vice-Admiralty Court Act. (americanrevolution.org)
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On March 5, 1770, a mob of colonists gathered at the Customs House in Boston and begins taunting the British soldiers guarding the building. The protesters, who called themselves Patriots, were protesting the occupation of their city by British troops, who were sent to Boston in 1768 to enforce unpopular taxation measures passed by a British parliament that lacked American representation. This caused the situation to escalate and resulted in five colonists dead and three injured. (history.com)
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On the night of 16 December 1773, 340 chests of tea were destroyed in Boston Harbor, an event that has gone down in history. This political and mercantile protest was one of the key events in the lead up to the American Revolutionary War and, ultimately, American independence. Those involved in the protest were against the British tax on tea in the Americas and the monopoly of the East India Company on tea there, both expressed by the 1773 Tea Act. (nationalarchives.gov.uk)
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The Coercive Acts of 1774, known as the Intolerable Acts in the American colonies, were a series of four laws passed by the British Parliament to punish the colony of Massachusetts Bay for the Boston Tea Party. The four acts were the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, and the Quartering Act. The Quebec Act of 1774 is sometimes included as one of the Coercive Acts, although it was not related to the Boston Tea Party. (mountvernon.org)
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The Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, kicked off the American Revolutionary War (1775-83). Tensions had been building for many years between residents of the 13 American colonies and the British authorities, particularly in Massachusetts. On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord in order to seize an arms cache. (history.com)
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On June 17, 1775, New England soldiers faced the British army for the first time in a pitched battle. Popularly known as "The Battle of Bunker Hill," bloody fighting took place throughout a hilly landscape of fenced pastures that were situated across the Charles River from Boston. Though the British forces claimed the field, the casualties inflicted by the Provincial solders from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire were staggering. (nps.gov)
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By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by 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. By declaring themselves an independent nation, the American colonists were able to confirm an official alliance with the Government of France and obtain French assistance in the war against Great Britain. (history.state.gov)
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The Battle of Trenton took place on December 26, 1776, after British forces captured New York City and George Washington’s Patriot army retreated to Pennsylvania. In a daring surprise attack, Washington crossed the Delaware River on Christmas, and surprised German mercenaries garrisoning Trenton, New Jersey in support of the British. The one-sided victory restored the patriots’ flagging morale, and provided Washington with captured supplies. (battlefields.org)
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On 8/16/1780, more than 2000 British and Loyalist troops under Lt. General Lord Cornwallis met and defeated over 4,000 American troops commanded by General Horatio Gates. The Battle of Camden was the worst Patriot defeat of the American Revolution. The aftermath of the battle saw the southern Continental Army in total disarray while the British Army and Loyalists controlled the colony. Camden became a fortified garrison for the British and the future for the patriot cause in the South was bleak.
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The Treaty of Paris was signed by U.S. and British Representatives on September 3, 1783, ending the War of the American Revolution. Based on a1782 preliminary treaty, the agreement recognized U.S. independence and granted the U.S. significant western territory. The 1783 Treaty was one of a series of treaties signed at Paris in 1783 that also established peace between Great Britain and the allied nations of France, Spain, and the Netherlands. (2001-2009.state.gov)
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The Great Compromise was an agreement made during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that established a dual system of congressional representation. It combined elements from both the Virginia Plan, which favored larger states with representation based on population, and the New Jersey Plan, which favored smaller states with equal representation. This compromise was crucial in shaping the structure of Congress and played a significant role in the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
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A joint House and Senate Conference Committee settled remaining disagreements in September. On October 2, 1789, President Washington sent copies of the 12 amendments adopted by Congress to the states. By December 15, 1791, three-fourths of the states had ratified 10 of these, now known as the “Bill of Rights.”
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The constitutional convention met in the chamber of the House of Delegates in the Capitol in Richmond from December 3, 1867, through April 17, 1868. Known as the Underwood Convention, after its president, Radical Republican federal judge John C. Underwood, the constitution it produced is also sometimes known as the Underwood Constitution. (virginiamemory.com)