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Signing of the Treaty of Paris
Ending the Seven Year’s War, also known as the French and Indian War in North America. -
Proclamation of 1763
George III prohibited all settlement west of the Appalachian mountains without guarantees of security from local Native American nations. The intervention in colonial affairs offended the thirteen colonies' claim to the exclusive right to govern lands to their west. -
Sugar Act
The first attempt to finance the defence of the colonies by the In order to deter smuggling and to encourage the production of British rum, taxes on molasses were dropped; a levy was placed on foreign Madeira wine and colonial exports of iron, lumber and other goods had to pass first through Britain and British customs. T -
Stamp Act
Seeking to defray some of the costs of garrisoning the colonies, Parliament required all legal documents, newspapers and pamphlets required to use watermarked, or 'stamped' paper on which a levy was placed. -
Quartering Act
Colonial assemblies required to pay for supplies to British garrisons. The New York assembly argued that it could not be forced to comply. -
Townshend Revenue Act (Townshend Duties)
Duties on tea, glass, lead, paper and paint to help pay for the administration of the colonies, named after Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. John Dickinson publishes Letter from a Philadelphian Farmer in protest. Colonial assemblies condemn taxation without representation. -
Boston Massacre
Angered by the presence of troops and Britain's colonial policy, a crowd began harassing a group of soldiers guarding the customs house; a soldier was knocked down by a snowball and discharged his musket, sparking a volley into the crowd which kills five civilians. -
Boston Tea Party
Angered by the Tea Acts, American patriots disguised as Mohawk Indians dump £9,000 of East India Company tea into the Boston harbour. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
First engagements of the Revolutionary War between British troops and the Minutemen, who had been warned of the attack by Paul Revere. -
British surrender of 5,700 troops at Saratoga.
Lacking supplies, 5,700 British, German and loyalist forces under Major General John Burgoyne surrender to Major General Horatio Gates in a turning point in the Revolutionary War. -
Ratification of the Articles of Confederation
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Treaty of Paris, formally ending the Revolutionary War
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1787Adoption of the American Constitution
Independence
