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King declared the colony of Massachusetts to be open rebellion
This situation of unfair taxation, lack of repersentation in the British Parliament, and the restriction of colonial freedoms the king made it worse by declaring the colony of Massachusetts to be in open rebellion. He commanded that Boston's main patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock be arrested for treason . After, soldiers were ordered to seize American weapons and gunpowder being stored in the town of Concord, Massachusetts. -
Lexington and Concord: outbreak of the Revolutionary war
The redcoats were coming to fight so they sent Paul Revere to warn everyone that they were coming. The next morning the people of Lexington fought agasint them and 8 of the minutemen lay dead. The British troops continued toward Concord but when they got there more fights interupted them so they just went back to Boston. On there way back they got attacked by rebels and over all 250 British soldiers and 90 Americans had been killed or wounded. -
The second continental congress begins
A few weeks after the outbreak of was, representatives from the 13 colonies formed the Second Continental Congress. This would serve as an emergency government throughout the war. While that was happening, the was spread. The American fighters in the colony of New York captured Fort Ticonderoga; at the same time, armed militias took positions in the hill around Boston. Later, they selected George Washington to be their commander and cheif. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
This was the 2nd and the bloodiest battle of the Revolutionary War. It started after American militiamen made a dirt fort at the top of a hill in Charles Town. The British began to shell their fort from ships in the harbor. Soon charles town was burning . The battle continued untill the militiamen ran out of gunpowder. In the end, the redcoats suffered twice as many casualties as the Americans but the British still managed to win. -
Washington takes comand in Boston
A month after the American defeat at Bunker Hill, General Washington took command of the militias around Boston. His plan was to drive the redcoats from the city if Britain. When he went into action he orderd his men to have cannons. But this would be complicated to get them to Boston. As this was being done, British Canada was being attacked so they dumped there cannons and sailed for Canada. -
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War in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania
British soldiers hired German troops to attack New York City.After alot of fighting, British forves took control of the city and chased Washington's army across New Jersey into Pennsylvania. Washingtons crew crossed the icy Delaware River and sliped back into New Jersey. The next summer, the enemy force invaded New York from Canada. At the same time, a second British force arracked from the opposite direction and defeated Washington's army in Pennsylvania in a battle at Brandvwine Creek. -
The declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. This document says that all men are born with certain god-given rights and are created equal. The people that wrote it with Jefferson describe all the ways that Britain had taken away the rights of the colonists and they declare that America must be independent to form a new, democratic, nation. When it was presented to congress the U.S. was born. -
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Encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
Washington set up an encampment in Balley Forge after the fight with Saratoga. He had his men build a line of log cabins and before he knew it , it was the second largest city in the United States. It had a population of 12000 men. Even though insdie the cabins it was crowded it shelters Washington's men from snow. Although, they lacked food, shoes, and clothing so by spring over two thousand soldiers had died. But some good happend to, they became a much more disciplined and determinded group. -
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The campaign in the southern states
The summer after Valley Forge, the British under took a major military campaign in the southern state were alot of people were against independence. The British abandoned Philadelphia. The king then took over Georgia. The British kept fighting agasint the Americans and they kept loosing. Finally they started to win again but they couldnt stop the British from invading Virginia. -
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Yorktown, Virginia - the last battle of the Revolutionary war
General Cornwallis's army set up encampment on the outskirts of Yorktown while Washington's army marched south to Virginia. The french were also fighting the British and were causign them to get weaker and weaker. By the time Washington got there they surrended and all the shooting stopped.
