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A group of Boston merchants went to court, to challenge the legality of writs of assistance.
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Pontiac's Rebellion began when a group of Native American warriors, working for chief Pontiac, attacks the British force at Detroit.
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Parliament passed the Stamp Act.
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In October 1765, nine colonies sent delegates to the Stamp Act Congress in New York City.
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The Quartering Act was passed by paliament.
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Parliament canceled the Stamp Act.
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Samuel Adams organized a committee of correspondence.
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The Tea Act was passed.
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In December of the year 1773, George Hewes and many others destroyed 342 chests of tea.
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In September and October of 1774, delegates from the committes of correspondence gathered in Pensylvania for the first continental congress.
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Near the end of 1774, some colonists began prepring to fight.
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To punish Massachusetts, the United Kingdom made four new 'Intolerable Acts':
1) The port of Boston was closed to all ships until colonists paid for all th destroyed tea.
2) The government was restricted in Massachusetts, so town meetings couln't be held witout the governor, and no committees could be appointed.
3) British commanders were allowed to house troops wherever and whenever needed.
4) British officials that were accused of crimes, stood trial in Britain rather than the colonies. -
Rhode Island and Connecticut restricted slave trade.
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Spies were busy in the spring of 1775, for Samuel Adams had organized a spy network.
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On April 19, 1775, the Revolutionary War began.
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In April, after the battles of Lexington and Concord, thousands of militiamen began gathering at Patriot headquarters near Boston.
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In the spring, backwoodsmen attacked Britain's Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Camplain.
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In May of 1775, the second continental congress met in Pennsylvania.
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In June, 1775, George Wahington left for Massachusetts on horseback.
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In July, congress sent off to London the Olive Branch Petition.
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In March of 1775, Patrick herny delivered his most famous speech: "Gentlemen may cry, peace, peace but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle?...I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
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In the spring of 1775, Daniel Boone and thirty others were hired by Virginia to build a road to Kentucky.
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After 1775, thousands of pioneers settled south of the Ohio River, in Kentucky. But few settled north of the river.
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Kentucky's population went from 100 to 20,000 in five years.
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Between 1775 and 1780, Kentucky's population went from 100 to 20,000.
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In March, 170 British ships, 9,000 soldiers, and 1,000 American loyalists left.
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In January, the Pamphlet of Common Sense jolted America out of uncertainty. It was 46 pages long.
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Richard Henry Lee of Virginia presented the continental congress with several solutions to be voted on:
1) The colonies should become seperate states.
2) The colonies should take steps to form their own alliences.
3) The colonies should prepare a plan for joining in a confederation. -
On July 1st, 1776, congress began debating Lee's resolutions.
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On July 4th, 1776, congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.
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Mercy Otis Warren published the play, 'The Blockheads'.
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In March, 1776, the British left Boston. George Washington guessed they would reappear in New York City.
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Britain's general, William Howe, made his move in July, 1776. He and his troops came from Nova Scotia with the largest seaborn army ever launched. There were over 8,000 Hessian mercenaries.
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On December 25, 1776, George Washington and his patriot troops, rowed across the icy Delaware River to the New Jersey shore.
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The Continental Congress had begun work on a plan for national government that would be a republic.
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During these four years, all 13 colonies formed their own state governments.
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The Declaration of Independance was signed.
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In 1776, many delegates thought that government had to rely on the goodness of the people, but by 1787, the events changed their minds.
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Vermont banned the slave trade in it's Constitution.
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General WIlliam Howe set off to capture Pennsylvania in the summer of 1777. It was easily obtained in September.
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In the summer of 1777, Lafayette volunteered with George Washington. He later became one of the army's most popular leaders.
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In the winter of 1777 and 1778, George Washington and his army were in Valley Forge. In this time, one fourth of the amry died from the cold, smallpox, typhoid fever, and starvation.
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By 1777, Britain had more than 100 warships off the coast of America.
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France recognised America's independece and forged an alliance with them. Then France persuaded Spain to join their alliance.
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Von Steuben arrived at Valley Forge in the spring of 1778. He began training 100 soldiers at a time, teaching them the European formations.
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Clark traveled down the Ohio RIver with 175 Virginians.
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George Rogers Clark, a 26 year old, wanted to defend America's western frontier. "If a country is not worth protecting, it is not worth claiming."
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The British forces went from New York to the port of Savanna, Georgia. France and America failed to retake it.
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Spain provided America with military help, and many victories were won.
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George Rogers Clark and his men set out to reclaim Vincennes, which is now Indiana.
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John Paul Jones left the French port with his ship, the Bonhomme Richard.
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Patrolling the east coast of England were three large warship, the largest of which was called the Serapis. There were two on the other side, causing the greatest sea fight of the Revolutionary War.
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By 1779, all of the states had ratified the articles. The only one to refuse, was Maryland.
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The British captured another important port - Charleston, South Carolina, causing one of the worst war disasters.
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Johann von Robais Baron de Kalb's forces (American) panicked and ran, causing a new low in spirits for the colonists.
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The battle of King's Mt. was fought between North Carolina and South Carolina. The patriot force of frontier guerillas slaughtered most of the British forces - over 1000 men! This became one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War.
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George Washington put a new general - Nathaniel Greene - in charge of the southern army. He persuaded the Cherokee Indians to join the American side.
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In March 1781, Maryland ratifiedd the Articles of Confederation.
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On October 119, 1781, the French cut off the British. The Americans and French then attacked General Cornwallis at Yorktown, forcing him to surrender his army of 8000.
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Lawmakers outlawed paper money, forcing people to pay debts and taxes in gold or silver money.
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The Americans met with the British to work out a peace agreement.
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In November of 1783, the last British troops sailed from New York City.
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In June, 1783, hundreds of soldiers surrounded the state house of Philidelphia, where Congress members were meeting. The soldiers threw their bayonets through the windows, forcing the meeting to ennd, and the legislators to leave. This was ment to symbolize Congress' lack of power.
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Members of Congress called the land to be surveyed in the Northwest Territory.
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Once surveyed, the Ordinance called for the sections to be sold to the highest bidder.
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Mobs of Massachusetts farmers protested loudly outside the courts, using threats and violence to stop the sale of farms for nonpayment of debts.
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Shays and hundreds of his followers marched to Springfield in the western part of the state.
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In September of 1786, a meeting of delegates, called a convention, was held in Annapolis, Maryland.
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The Northwest Ordinance for the Northwest Territory stated that Congress would choose a governor aand three judges to rule the territory.
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In May 1787, delegates met for the "sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation". The convention was held in Philadelphia.
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Edmund Randolf and the other convention members agreed that the nation was in danger.
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On September 17, 1787, 39 out of the 42 men signed the Constitution.
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In the Autumn of 1787, the Constitution appeared in newspapers and leaflets.
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In June of 1788, New Hampshire was the ninth state to sign the constitution. Nine were needed to make it the law of the land.
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Congress made the first ten additions to the Constitution - the Bill of Rights. The additions are Amendments.
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Richard Allen started a methodist church for African Americans. It was the first one ever.
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In 1796, the court decided that seperate treatment of black and white citizens was constitutional, but by 1954, that treatment was declared wrong and unconstitutional.
