-
Britain passes Stamp Act, imposing a tax on legal documents, newspapers, even playing cards. This sparks a fire.
-
British troops land in Boston to enforce the Townshend duties and clamp down on local radicals.
-
First shots of the revolutionary War are fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachuesetts.
-
first major action of the war, inexperienced colonial soldiers hold off hardened British veterans for more then two hours at Breed's Hill.
-
A British invasion force mounts an all-day attack on a patriot force on Sullivan's Island.
-
The Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress. Following a decade of agitation over taxes and a year of war, representatives make the break with Britain.
-
Washington moves his troops into New Jersey on christmas night.
-
The partriots surprise German troops fighting for Britain at Trenton.
-
General John Burgoyne's attempt to separate the rebellious New England colonies from those farther south ends in a spectacular failure. The surrender of 6,000 british regulars at Saratoga will shock London and help induce France to enter the war on the American side.
-
As a result of the patriot victory at Saratoga and American diplomatic efforts, France allies itslef with the new American government.
-
The British take charleston, S.C., caputre a large patriot army, and deal the rebels one of their worst defeats of the war.
-
The isolated British garrison at Ninety Six is laid siege to by patriot forces under Gen. Nathanael Greene. The approach of a British relief column leads Greene to make a final, unsuccessful assault on the fort on June 18. The events at Ninety Six underline the fact that Briain has too few troops to hold the southern hinterlands
-
The evacuation of loyalists begins. Largely unwelcome in the new United States, about 100,000 Americans who remained loyal to the crown find new lives in Britain, Canada, and British colonies in the West Indies. Among them are about 15,000 african Americans, some of whom end up helping to found the country of Sierra Leone in Africa.
-
The Treaty of Paris ratifies the independence of the 13 North American states. Canada remains a British province, beginning its separate development as a U.S. neighbor. Another war wtih England(1812-1815) will be necessary to truly secure the American nation.
-
The Treaty of Fort Stanwix imposes a peace on those members of the Iroquois Confederacy that sided with the British in the Revolution. The war's aftermath will prove devastating to Native Americans. With no European allies to rely upon, Indian tribes will be under increasing pressure from settlers moving west out of the original 13 states.
-
A convention of states in Philadelphia propeses the Constitution to replace the much looser central government operating under the Articles of Confederation. With amendments, the Constitution remains the framework of government in the U.S.
-
The Website used to create this timlineThis timeline was created by Daniel, Morris. For one of the 11 history projects for World History in Quarter 3 Semester 2,