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Yale University
An act for liberty to erect a collegiate school in Saybrook is passed by the colony of Connecticut. It would become Yale University. -
Queen Anne's war
During Queen Anne's war. Deerfield, Massachusetts is attacked by French and Indian forces with the fifty-six killed and over one hundred captured or carried off. -
Period: to
Dummer's war
Declaration of war occurs in Dummer's war after skirmishes earlier in the year between New England colonists and the Wabanaki confederacy, backed by New France. -
North Carolina
Lord proprietors sells out their interests in North Carolina to the British crown. That established North Carolina as a Crown colony. -
George Whitefield
Anglican minister George Whitefield arrives for his first visit to North America. He became the predominant preacher in the First Great Awakening movement throughout the colonies. -
Lightning rod
Benjamin Franklin invents the lightning rod after proving that lightning was electricity by flying a kite in a thunderstorm. -
Period: to
French and Indian war
The French and Indian war began due to a conflict between England and France over control of the Ohio river valley. The battle of necessity occurred in Southwestern Pennsylvania in a small fort built for supplies. February 10, 1763 the French and Indian ends with peace treaty that cedes Canada and the American mid-west to the English. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act places a duty on various commodities, including lumber, food, molasses, and the rum in the British colonies. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act required taxes to pay for British troops. Colonies adopt a Declaration of Rights against Taxation without representation. -
Townshend Act
More levies were put on goods in American colonies with the Townshend Acts. This included levies on glass, painter's lead, paper, and tea. The only one that wasn't repealed was the tax on tea. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre occurs when the British troops fire into a Boston mob, who were demonstrating against British troops at the Customs Commission. The first to fall was Crispus Attucks, a fugitive slave and merchant seaman. -
American Revolution begins
Samuel Adams organized the committee of correspondence, a forerunner of the Union of American Colonies, that begins the American Revolution. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston tea party happened when the East India Company was sent to America with surplus tea, American colonists resented being taxed without consent. So Bostonian's led by Josiah Quincy and Samuel Adams boarded three ships and tossed 342 chests of tea into the harbor. Parliament closed the port of Boston on March 31, 1774 and it pushed the American colonies one step closer to war. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence, from Thomas Jefferson and his committee is approved in the second Continental Congress of the United States of America, held in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. -
Crossing the Delaware
at McKonkey's Ferry General Washington and his 2,400 troops cross the Delaware river from Pennsylvania to New Jersey on Christmas day from 4 p.m. until 4 a.m. the next morning and defeats 1,400 Hessian's in the first battle of Trenton, capturing 900 men. -
Flag
The Continental Congress adopts the Stars and Stripes as the National flag. -
National bird
The Bald Eagle is adopted by Congress as the national bird -
U.S. Independence
British Parliament agrees to the recognition of U.S. Independence. The Treaty of Paris is signed between American and British officials on November 30, 1782 -
end of Revolutionary war
Congress ratifies the preliminary peace treaty, ending the Revolutionary war -
Steamboat invention
First test of John Fitch's new invention, the steamboat occurs on the Delaware river. -
Constitution
Delegates to the Constitutional Convention adopt the Constitution. -
First President
George Washington is elected unanimously by the Electoral College as the first President of the United States. -
Government begins
The Government of the United States under the U.S. Constitution begins to act. The U.S. Constitution is declared to be in effect. -
Inauguration
George Washington is Inaugurated in New York City, with John Adams as his Vice President. -
Supreme Court
The Federal Judiciary Act is passed, creating the Supreme Court. -
Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is submitted to the states by Congress. -
Cotton Gin invented
Eli Whitney patents the Cotton Gin, which could do the work of fifty men when cleaning cotton by hand. -
First Passport
The United States issued its first Passport. -
Next President
John Adams succeeds George Washington as President of the United States.
