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In 1754, the British decided they needed more land causing them to fight with the French. This fight took place in the Ohio River valley. The British defeated the French in Quebec in 1759.
https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/french-and-indian-war -
Took place and was signed in 1763. The British felt the need to tighten their grip on the Colonies. The Proclamation of 1763 said that colonists could not settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. They did this to avoid costly conflicts with the Native Americans. -
Taking place after the French and Indian war, in 1764. The British had to pay for the war somehow, so they looked to the colonists. They enforced new taxes such as the Stamp act, which taxed anything that had to do with paper. Colonists opposed because this was taxation without representation. -
Taking place in 1764. The British needed to fund the growing British Empire. The sugar act enforced customs to stop refined sugars coming into non-British countries. Sugar was taxed when it came into the Empire. -
Taking place in 1765. The British Parliament wanted to use the Colonists to help them out while at war. They passed the quartering act stating that Colonists had to allow British soldiers to live in their homes and feed them. This made Colonists very upset because they did not want strangers in their homes. Parliament later repealed this act. -
Taking place in 1767. The British felt they needed to prove that they had power over the colonists. Many of these were to just show the colonists that they had almost no power, they either taxed them or forced them to do things that they did not want to. This made the colonists very upset, which made them want to leave the British even more. https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/townshend-acts -
Taking place in Boston Massachusetts in 1770. Tensions between the British and Colonists were rising. This ended up turning to violence. 50 to 60 colonists killed 7 soldiers while 1 soldier fired into the crowd killing 5 colonists, one of them being Crispus Attucks. https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/boston-massacre -
Taking place in 1773. The British kept the tax on tea even though they got rid of other taxes. The colonists did not like this at all. To protest they dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. The sons of Liberty helped organize this. https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/boston-tea-party -
Taking place in 1773. With the British being in debt from being at war, they needed ways to get this money back so they did the only thing they knew how to do, tax the Colonists. The Colonists drank a lot of tea so this was very profitable for the British. This did not make the Colonists very happy, this later lead to the Boston Tea Party. https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/tea-act -
After the Boston Tea Party, in 1774. The British took more control over the colonists. They changed the governing board from elected men to appointed ones. They also introduced the Quartering act, Boston was placed under martial Law. -
Taking Place in the fall of 1774. To respond to the Intolerable Acts, the First Continental congress meets in Philadelphia. 56 delegates including George Washington called on the British to end the Intolerable Acts. The British responds by sending more troops to the Colonies causing more disagreement. They used committees of correspondence to help them relay messages. -
Taking place during the Revolutionary War in 1775. 56 men convened again in Philadelphia after the war had started. They made very large steps toward the independence of the colonies, so much so that in 1776, 50 of the 56 men signed a draft of the Declaration of Independence. -
Taking place on the 4th of April in 1775. The British marched from Boston to Concord to try to take control of an arms cache. Paul Revere and Many Militiamen sounded an Alarm. Fighting in Lexington began due to the Patriots cutting off the British troops, The British then were forced to retreat due to heavy fire from the Patriots. This kicked off the Revolutionary War. https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/battles-of-lexington-and-concord -
Taking place on the 17th of June in 1775. This was the first major battle of the Revolutionary War. This battle took place in what is now Charlestown which is now a part of Boston. The British won this battle but they also lost over 40 percent of their soldiers. The Patriots took this as a moral victory for them.
https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/battle-of-bunker-hill -
Taking place on the 5th of July in 1775. The Continental Congress adopts a document that John Dickinson writes called "The Olive Branch Petition" Which the main goal of this was to create peace with King George III. The main idea of this was to tell the King that they only wanted power of the colonies and not the rest of Great Britain. -
Taking place in 1776. English Man Thomas Paine wrote a novel explaining why the colonists should declare independence from the British. This piece was read by many Colonists giving them many ideas. He used ¨common sense¨ to come up with reasons why they should leave British rule.
https://www.history.com/news/thomas-paine-common-sense-revolution -
Taking place on July 4th, 1776. Coming from enlightenment ideas, Colonists finally decided they were done with the British. The continental congress signed the Declaration of Independence which was mostly drafted by Thomas Jefferson with Ben Franklin mainly as the editor of the document. This day is now known as Independence day. https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/declaration-of-independence -
Taking place on the 27th of August in 1776. The British were able to defeat Washington and his army but Washington outsmarted the redcoats. After 2 days of fighting and almost being captured Washington withdrew his troops and escaped the British. -
Taking place on December 26th, 1776. On Christmas day Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River. His troops defeated a large group of Hessian Mercenaries before eventually withdrawing. This was a big victory because Hessian's were very skilled and experienced soldiers. -
Taking place in the winter of 1777. Valley Forge Pennsylvania was the hone for the Continental Army for 6 months. This is where they had to persevere and played a major role in them being such a powerful army. Washington used the help of Prussian Frieherr Von Steubon to help him with his army. -
Taking place on October 17th, 1777. With his depleted army British General John Burgoyne surrendered to the Continental Army in Saratoga, New York at the battle of Saratoga. This is due to the Continental Army putting a lot of pressure on the British causing many British Soldiers to die. Benedict Arnold was a very important soldier in the Battle of Saratoga.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/americans-win-more-than-a-battle-at-saratoga -
Taking place on the 28th of June in 1778. Washington troops defeat British troops led by Cornwallis. Legend says Molly Pitcher was a woman on the american side who Gave the soldiers water and put water on the Canons during the Battle of Monmouth. -
Taking place on the 19th of October in 1781. This was the Final Battle of the Revolutionary War. This battle took place in Yorktown, New York. In this battle, British General Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington and the Continental Army. This was the last time the Patriots had to step on the Battlefield during the Revolution even though there was still a lot of work to be done. https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/siege-of-yorktown -
Taking place in 1783. 3 men one of them being Ben Franklin negotiated the peace treaty with many representatives of King George III. This ended the Revolutionary war on paper finally. Great Britain signed off on American Independence and the new land that came with it.