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Delaware Colony 1701
Charter allowed 3 most southern colonies to create their own assembly. -
Privy Council 1704
Created to try and stabilize the early colonial economy. Assigned value based on a coin's silver content. Created something called a tax anticipation. And created an asset-backed currency, which did not work during times of war. -
Slavery in 1705
Virginia House of Burgesses created a comprehensive slave code -
Board of Trade 1706
The board of Trade ordered royal governors to veto any paper money issues. -
Post Salem Witch Trials 1711
Compensation was paid to the surviving victims of the Salem Witch trials. -
Georgia Colony 1732
The colony of Georgia received its charter in 1732. The colony was designed as a buffer state in case of Spanish invasion from Florida. Georgia offered an alternative to debtors prison for poor people who could not pay their debts. Georgia eventually became a royal colony in 1755. -
Stono Rebellion 1739
The Catholic governor of Florida promised freedom to fugitive slaves if they helped fight alongside the Spanish against English colonies -
Seven Years War 1754-1763
Also known as the French and Indian War. French and English forces fought over got to claim Ohio. At first, the French were winning the war, until the English took Quebec turning the tide of the war. The English won the war, but now there were war debts that needed to be paid. -
Treaty of Paris 1763
The Treaty of Paris ended the Seven Years War, but now there were large war debts that needed to be paid. This lead to England taxing the English colonies in the New World. -
Proclamation Line of 1763
This honored promises made to the Delaware and Iroquois Indians.
However, it outraged the colonists, as it stated that they had to remove themselves from the land they had just won in the war. -
Currency Act 1764
The Currency Act of 1764 stated that all currency used in the colonies must be English money. This threatened to destabilize the entire colonial economy. -
Sugar act of 1764
This act was used to inforce the navigation acts and cut down on smuggling in the colonies. -
Stamp Act 1765
This was the first direct tax on American colonies. It required that items like wills, newspapers, official documents, dice, playing cards, etc. had to bear a stamp. -
Quartering Act 1765
The Quartering Act of 1765 required colonists to house and provide for the basic needs of Brittish soldiers. -
Stamp Act Congress 1765
Delegates from 9 colonies got together to petition the King to repeal the Stamp Act. -
Declaratory Act 1766
This act repealed the Stamp Act, but essentially stated that Parlement could do whatever they wanted to the colonies. -
Townsend Duties 1767
The Townsend Duties taxed things like paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea. -
Revenue Act 1767
This act created the Board of Customs and Commissioners to enforce the taxes. -
Virginia Resolves 1769
The Virginia Resolves written by George Mason opposed taxation without representation. The Royal Governor of Virginia responded by dissolving the House of Burgesses. To which Virginia colonists then responded with a mass boycott of English goods and slaves. -
Boston Massacre 1770
On March 5th, 1770 British soldiers fired into a rioting mob in Boston. Five Bostonians and two boys were killed that day in what became known as the Boston Massacre. -
Tea Act 1773
This act was not enacted to generate revenue. The act was created to try and save the struggling East India Company by giving it a monopoly on tea trade with the colonies. -
Boston Tea Party 1773
On the night of December 16th, 1773, 30-130 men dressed in Mohawk costumes threw all the tea into the Boston harbor. -
Coercive Acts 1774
These acts were enacted in response to Boston's rebellious actions.
Port Bill - closed the Boston port and put Massachusetts under military rule
Massachusetts Regulating Act - ended self-rule by colonists
Administration of Justice Act - protected royal officials in Massachusetts
New Quartering Act - All American colonies must provide housing for troops in occupied houses and taverns and unoccupied buildings. -
Quebec Act 1774
This act gave Cannada a huge plot of land. This greatly upset the colonists, since it was the land that they had just fought for and were still paying taxes for. -
First Continental Congress 1774
The First Continental Congress convened on September 5th, 1774 and consisted of 56 delegates. This congress wrote the Declaration of Rights and Grievances. England responded by declaring the Contental Congress an illegal assembly. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord 1775
The Battle of Lexington and Concord took place on April 19th, 1775 between General Gage and the Lexington militia. At Lexington, eight Lexington militia men died and ten were wounded, only one British soldier was wounded. The Brittish forces marched on to Concord, but were met by a larger force. At the end of the day, 223 British soldiers died and 95 minutemen died. This marked the start of the Revolutionary War. -
Second Continental Congress 1775
The Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia on May 10th, 1775. This Congress formed a Continental Army placing General George Washington in charge. The Congress also sent an Olive Branch Petition to King George III hoping to avoid the War, but the King refused to reveive it. -
Battle of Bunker Hill 1775
The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17th, 1775. In this battle, there were 1600 colonists against 2000 British soldiers. Brittish generals Henry Clinton, John Burgoyne, and William Howe were all present at this battle. Despite the colonist's defeat, the colonists were able to repell the British twice. -
Thomas Paine's Common Sense 1776
This pamphlet was published on January 10th, 1776, calling for colonists to use their common sense and separate from Britain. -
Declaration of Independence 1776
The Declaration of Independence declared the States independence from Britain and outlined grievances against the King. -
Battle of Saratoga 1777
General Horatio Gates jumps on Burgoyne at Saratoga. On October 17, 1777, the Brittish surrendered. This marked a major turning point in the war as it proved that the colonists were serious about their independence from Britain, and it won the colonists French support in the war. -
Benedict Arnold Treason 1780
Benedict Arnold tried to sell West Point to the British. -
Cornwallis Surrender 1781
George Washington and French forces surround Yorktown forcing the Brittish General Cornwallis to surrender, thus ending the war. -
Treaty of Paris 1783
This treaty guaranteed independence from Britain and it gave us land. It came with the stipulation that we must stop prosecuting loyalists. -
Northwest Ordinances of 1784, 1785, 1787
These ordinances created procedures for five future states, and provided a survey of the Northwest territory. -
Shay's Rebellion 1786
Tax laws favored trade at the expense of agriculture. A rebellion led by Daniel Shay Demanded that property taxes be reduced. This rebellion showed the need for a stronger central government. -
Constitutional Convention 1787
55 delegates gathered in Philadelphia to create a new government from scratch. This became the United States of America under the Constitution. The constitution, however, would still need to be ratified by the states. -
Judiciary Act of 1789
The Judiciary Act of 1789 established a federal judiciary system with Federal District Courts and Circuit Courts. -
Bank of the United States 1791
The Bank of the United States received a charter for 20 years in 1791. The bank was designed to secure repository for the government, provide loans to the federal government, and to manage the nation's money supply. -
Whiskey Rebellion 1791
Hamilton's whiskey tax burdened western farmers. And in the Fall of 1791, the Whiskey Rebellion started in Pennsylvania. The federal government responded by ending the rebellion with force. -
Election of 1796
The presidential candidates of the election of 1796 were John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, and Thomas Pinckney. John Adams barely won the election against Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Jefferson was made Vice President. -
Jay Treaty 1974
John Jay was sent to negotiate with Britain to end impressment, but instead came back with a treaty for Britain to compensate ships seized, open trade in India, and evacuate western forts. However, this effectively ended Jay's political carrear, as he did not do what he had set out to do when negotiating the treaty.