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5th of march
On the cold, snowy night of March 5, 1770, a mob of American colonists gathers at the Customs House in Boston and begins taunting the British soldiers guarding the building. The protesters, who called themselves Patriots, were protesting the occupation of their city by British troops, who were sent to Boston in 1768 to enforce unpopular taxation measures passed by a British parliament that lacked American representation. -
16 December 1773
The midnight raid, popularly known as the “Boston Tea Party,” was in protest of the British Parliament’s Tea Act of 1773, a bill designed to save the faltering East India Company by greatly lowering its tea tax and granting it a virtual monopoly on the American tea trade. The low tax allowed the East India Company to undercut even tea smuggled into America by Dutch traders, and many colonists viewed the act as another example of taxation tyranny. -
19 April 1775
By 1775, tensions between the American colonies and the British government approached the breaking point, especially in Massachusetts, where Patriot leaders formed a shadow revolutionary government and trained militias to prepare for armed conflict with the British troops occupying Boston. In the spring of 1775, General Thomas Gage, the British governor of Massachusetts, received instructions from England to seize all stores of weapons and gunpowder accessible to the American insurgents. On Apri -
18 April 1775
On this day in 1775, British troops march out of Boston on a mission to confiscate the American arsenal at Concord and to capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock, known to be hiding at Lexington. As the British departed, Boston Patriots Paul Revere and William Dawes set out on horseback from the city to warn Adams and Hancock and rouse the Minutemen. -
15 January 1776
On this day in 1776, writer Thomas Paine publishes his pamphlet “Common Sense,” setting forth his arguments in favor of American independence. Although little used today, pamphlets were an important medium for the spread of ideas in the 16th through 19th centuries. -
4 July 1776
From 1776 until the present day, July 4th has been celebrated as the birth of American independence, with typical festivities ranging from fireworks, parades and concerts to more casual family gatherings and barbecues. -
battle of trenton
the Battle of New York the Patriots suffered heavy losses. Many men were killed or wounded and a lot of equipment was destroyed. British General William Howe had a very large army that was supported by the British Navy that controlled the seacoasts up and down the colonies. After the Battle of New York, General George Washington and his army of only 500 men fled to the Pennsylvania countryside to get away from the British troops. They were cold and hungry. They needed new uniforms, weapons and -
10th
n December 19, 1777, General George Washington, Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, settles his troops at Valley Forge, Pa., for the winter. The soldiers of the Continental Army had suffered hardships along the way including lack of food, weapons and clothing. Washington and his troops were also under physical and mental exhaustion from a tough campaign against the British that fall. -
6 February 1778
On February 6, 1778, France and the fledgling United States of America signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance in Paris, France. The Treaty of Amity and Commerce recognized the United States as an independent nation and promoted trade between France and the United States. The Treaty of Alliance created a military alliance against Great Britain, stipulating American independence as a condition of peace. The treaty also required France and the U.S. to concur in any peace -
2 March 1781
arch 2, 1781- The Articles of Confederation were signed. It was a terrible form of federal government because no decisions were ever made. Also, each state only got one vote, so most of the citizens didn't get a say in any political matters. In addition, the government couldn't collect taxes and each state had to have its own currency. Finally, you had to have a unanimous vote to make an amendment, which meant that no amendments were ever made. -
19 October 178
The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the Surrender at Yorktown or the German Battle, ending on October 19, 1781 at Yorktown, Virginia, was a decisive victory by a combined force