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Timeline of the American Revolution
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Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was imposed to provide increased revenues to meet the costs of defending the enlarged British Empire -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was imposed to provide increased revenues to meet the costs of defending the enlarged British Empire. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were passed by the British Parliament in an attempt to assert what is considered to be its historic right to exert authority over the colonies through suspension of a recalcitrant representative assembly and through strict provisions for the collection of revenue duties. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were passed by the British Parliament in an attempt to assert what is considered to be its historic right to exert authority over the colonies through suspension of a recalcitrant representative assembly and through strict provisions for the collection of revenue duties. -
Boston Massacre
A small British army detachment that was threatened by mob harassment opened fire and killed five people, an incident soon known as the Boston Massacre. -
Boston Massacre
A small British army detachment that was threatened by mob harassment opened fire and killed five people -
Boston Tea Party
A party of Bostonians thinly disguised as Mohawk people boarded ships at anchor and dumped tea into the harbor. -
Boston Tea Party
A party of Bostonians thinly disguised as Mohawk people boarded ships at anchor and dumped tea into the harbor -
Intolerable Acts
British Parliament enacted four measures that became known as the Intolerable Acts: the Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government Act, Administration of Justice Act, and Quartering Act. -
First Continental Congress convenes
In response to the Intolerable Acts, the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia -
Intolerable Acts
The Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government Act, Administration of Justice Act, and Quartering Act -
First Continental Congress convenes
The First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia -
Patrick Henry’s speech
Patrick Henry defended strong resolutions for equipping the Virginia militia to fight against the British in a fiery speech in a Richmond church with the famous words, “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” -
Paul Revere’s Ride and the Battles of Lexington and Concord
Paul Revere rode from Charlestown to Lexington to warn that the British were marching from Boston to seize the colonial armory at Concord. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
British troops eventually cleared the hill of the entrenched Americans, but at the cost of more than 40 percent of the assault force. -
Patrick Henry’s speech
Patrick Henry defended strong resolutions for equipping the Virginia militia to fight against the British in a fiery speech in a Richmond church with the famous words, “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” -
Battle of Bunker Hill
2,300 British troops eventually cleared the hill of the entrenched Americans, but at the cost of more than 40 percent of the assault force -
Declaration of Independence adopted
After the Congress recommended that colonies form their own governments, the Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson and revised in committee -
Nathan Hale executed
Nathan Hale was captured by the British. He was hanged without trial the next day -
Washington crosses the Delaware
George Washington and the Continental Army struck back on Christmas night by stealthily crossing the ice-strewn Delaware River, surprising the Hessian garrison at Trenton at dawn, and taking some 900 prisoners. -
Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga
John Burgoyne captured Fort Ticonderoga before losing decisively at Bennington, Vermont, and Bemis Heights, New York. -
France and the United States form an alliance
The French had secretly furnished financial and material aid to the Americans since 1776, but with the signing in Paris of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance, the Franco-American alliance was formalized. -
Benedict Arnold turns traitor
Having fought valiantly in a number of battles earlier in the war, American Gen. Benedict Arnold conspired with the British to surrender the fort at West Point, New York, that he commanded. -
Treaty of Paris ends the war
The military verdict in North America was reflected in the preliminary Anglo-American peace treaty of 1782, which was included in the Treaty of Paris of 1783.
