-
George I dies and is succeeded by George II.
-
George Whitefield begins his travels throughout the colonies. His message of everyday Christians having a personal connection with God resonates and begins the First Great Awakening.
-
The start of the French and Indian War
-
With the Treaty of Paris, the British formally gain control of Canada and all the French possessions east of the Mississippi.
-
British troops fire into a mob, killing five men and leading to intense public protests.
-
A group of colonial patriots disguised as Indians board three ships in Boston harbor and dump more than 300 crates of tea overboard as a protest against the British tea tax.
-
First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia.
-
The start of a war for independence between Great Britain and the 13 colonies.
-
Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia.
-
Battle-weary and destitute Continental army spends brutally cold winter and following spring at Valley Forge, Pa.
-
Continental Congress approves the first official flag of the United States.
-
Continental Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation, the first U.S. constitution.
-
British general Charles Cornwallis surrenders to Gen. George Washington at Yorktown, Va.
-
Great Britain formally acknowledges American independence in the Treaty of Paris, which officially brings the war to a close.
-
Shays's Rebellion erupts; farmers from New Hampshire to South Carolina take up arms to protest high state taxes and stiff penalties for failure to pay.
-
Constitutional Convention, made up of delegates from 12 of the original 13 colonies, meets in Philadelphia to draft the U.S. Constitution.
-
George Washington is unanimously elected president of the United States.
-
U.S. Supreme Court meets for the first time at the Merchants Exchange Building in New York City.
-
First ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, are ratified.
-
Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin greatly increases the demand for slave labor.
-
John Adams is inaugurated as the second president in Philadelphia.
