-
The Stamp Act
On March 22, 1765, the British Parliament passed the "Stamp Act" to help pay for British troops stationed in the colonies during the Seven Years' War. The act required the colonists to pay a tax, represented by a stamp, on various forms of papers, documents, and playing cards. -
Townshend Acts
Townshend Act constituted an attempt by the British government to consolidate fiscal and political power over the American colonies by placing import taxes on many of the British products bought by Americans, including lead, paper, paint, glass and tea. -
the Boston massacre
The Boston Massacre was a confrontation on March 5, 1770 in which British soldiers shot and killed several people while being harassed by a mob in Boston -
The Boston Tea Party
December 16, 1773, American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest -
Patrick Henry’s Give me liberty or give me death” speech
Give me liberty, or give me death!" is a quotation attributed to Patrick Henry from a speech he made to the Second Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775, at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia. -
Paul Revere’s Ride and the Battles of Lexington and Concord
On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere rode from Charlestown to Lexington to warn that the British were marching from Boston to seize the colonial armory at Concord. in route, the British force of 700 men was met on Lexington Green by 77 local minutemen and others. -
George Washington
George Washington named commander and chief -
Battle of Bunker Hill
British won the war but many people died. Colonists lost but more people wanted to be in the Army now. Gave the colonists more courage to stand up to Britain. -
George Washington
Washington assumes command of the continental army -
Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge
Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge in North Carolina during the Revolutionary War. American forces defeated the British. The victory ended British authority in North Carolina and provided an important boost to Patriot morale. -
Independence Day
On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, announcing the colonies’ separation from Great Britain -
Battle of Trenton
The British army’s dramatic success in New York and New Jersey in 1776 was predictable given its overwhelming size and skill. The sudden defeat at Trenton and the ten days of chaos that followed was not expected, and preserved American military will. -
Battles of Saratoga
American victory in October 1777, the success at Saratoga gave France the confidence in the American cause to enter the war as an American ally. Later American successes owed a great deal to French aid in the form of financial and military assistance. -
France enters the war against Britain
As a result of the patriot victory at Saratoga. France allies itself with the new American government. French financial and military aid will prove critical in winning the war. The Continental Army will learn of the French Alliance in May -
Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris was signed by U.S. and British Representatives on September 3, 1783, ending the War of the American Revolution. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation served as the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain but it never worked -
Constitution of the United States
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government -
Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." -
civil war
The Civil War started because of uncompromising differences between the free and slave states over the power of the national government to prohibit slavery in the territories that had not yet become states
