-
1712
Carolina divides into North and South Carolina -
1714
Tea is newly introduced to the colonies. -
1732
Benjamin Franklin publishes "Poor Richard's Almanac." -
1754
The beginning of the French and Indian War -
1763
The end of the French and Indian War. The British win the war against the French on the Plains of Abraham outside of Quebec. The Treaty of Paris is then signed and the British gain control of Canada and French possessions all the way up to the Mississippi River. -
1764
The Sugar Act is introduced to the colonies stating that the colonists were going to be taxed on molasses from six pence, to three pence per gallon. -
1765
The Stamp and Quartering Acts are put in place. The Stamp Act stated that all printed materials are to be stamped and taxed. The Quartering Act stated that colonial people were to provide food, shelter, and transportation to all British soldiers who were in the colonies. -
1767
The Townshend Act was put in place, and this act stated that new taxes were to be put on imports of paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea. -
1770
The Boston Massacre where British troops fire into a mob, killing five menaced leading to intense public protest throughout the colony. -
1773
The Tea Act is enacted on to the colonists, and this act states that the tea would come directly to the colonists instead of stopping it off at Britain, but the tea would be taxed on the people when it got to the colonies. Shortly After the Tea Act was put into place, the Boston Tea Party occurred, where a group of colonial patriots disguised as Mohawk Indians board three ships in Boston harbor and dump more than 300 crates of tea overboard as a protest against the British Tea Tax. -
1774
The Intolerable Acts are put into place and many people say that that was "the straw that broke the camels back" for the colonists. Also in 1774, the First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia, with 56 delegates representing every colony except Georgia. -
1775
The American Revolution begins, the War of independence fought between Great Britain and the 13 British colonies on the eastern seaboard of North America. Battles of Lexington and Concord, between the British Army and colonial minutemen, mark the beginning of the war. -
1776
The weary and dying Continental army spends the brutally cold winter in Valley Forge and George Washington decides to cross the Delaware to surprise attack the British troops on Christmas night. Meanwhile the Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence. -
1781
British general Charles Cornwallis surrenders general George Washington at Yorktown Virginia. -
1783
Great Britain formally acknowledges Americas Independence in the Treaty of Paris, which ends the war. -
1786
Shays's Rebellion occurs; farmers from New Hampshire to South Carolina take up arms to protest high state taxes and stiff penalties for failure to pay. -
1787
Constitutional Convention, made up of delegates from 12 of the original 13 colonies, meets in Philadelphia to draft the U.S. Constitution. -
1789
George Washington is unanimously elected president of the United States in a vote by state electors. U.S. Constitution goes into effect, having been ratified by nine states. U.S. Congress meets for the first time at Federal Hall in New York City. Washington is inaugurated as president at Federal Hall in New York City. -
1791
The Bill of Rights are ratified. -
1793
Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin. -
1797
John Adams becomes the second president of the United States. -
1800
Gabriel Prosser, an enslaved African American blacksmith, organizes a slave revolt intending to march on Richmond, Virginia. The conspiracy is uncovered, and Prosser and a number of the rebels are hanged. Virginia's slave laws are consequently tightened.