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Navigation Acts
Regulated colonial trade and manufacturing. -
Tea Act
British taxed colonists tea and gave all the power of control of trade the the tea company. -
French and Indian War Ends
Colonists anger eventually led to the American Revolution due to disagreements about the frontier strategy and how to pay for war costs. The treaty of Paris ended the war for good. -
Stamp Act
This act taxed items such as newspapers and pamphlets. Colonists bitterly resented with the saying “No taxation without representation!” They believed they had a right to have representation in the way things ran and decisions made in Britain. -
Boston Massacure
It began as a street brawl between colonists and a single British soldier but escalated to a massacre. This happened because tension was high from British occupations in the colonists homes and they tried to enforce British tax laws such as the Stamp Act and Townstead Act. -
Boston Tea Party
Frustrated colonists dumped crates of tea into the harbor for Britain imposing “taxation without representation” , 1st major act of defiance and nationalism grows. -
Coercive/Intolerable Acts
These acts were enacted by Britain parliament in retaliation for acts of colonial defiance. These acts closed the harbor, replaced the elective local government with a different one, allowed British officials charged with capitol offenses to be tried in another colony/England, and permitted homes to house British troops. -
First Continental Congress
This organized the rebel colonists’ ideals to British rule that became more severe and controlling. -
Lexington and Concord
British troops marched from Boston to Concord, Paul Revere sounded to alarm. The British soon retreated under intense fire, leading to colonist independence. It was the opening shots of the revolution. -
Second Continental Congress
Congress assigned George Washington as the Continental Army’s leader and recruitment was permitted for the Army to grow. -
Declaration of Independence Adopted
American leaders signed this document pleading their lives to the United States. This document spelled out political principles. -
Battle of Saratoga
The American defeat of the British army lifted patriot morale, furthered the hope for independence, and helped to secure the French support needed to win the war. -
Winter at Valley Forge
The soldiers built huts for protection through the harsh winter, but not ideal circumstances and lack of food and blankets spread disease and exhaustion in the camp. -
Battle of Yorktown
The British government changed as a result of the defeat. A land and sea campaign that entrapped a major British army on a peninsula at Yorktown, Virginia, and forced its surrender. -
U.S. constitution written
The constitution creates a government that puts the power in the hands of the people. It was written by George Washington, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin. It was the framework for a strong government because the Articles of Confederation were considered weak. -
U.S. Constitution Adopted
Most Europe countries were ruled by hereditary monarchs which made the U.S a symbol of freedom. Demands were made for written constitutions and inspired Latin American Revolutionaries.