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Stamp Act
A tax, paid by colonists, that the British Parliament put on all legal documents and papers in order to restore the money lost in the French and Indian War. -
Protest of the Stamp act
Colonists were furious and insulted when the British parliament passed the Stamp Act. They attacked tax collectors, boycotted British goods, and screamed “No taxation without representation” throughout the streets. -
Gaspee Affair
A group of colonists from Rhode Island attacked the ship of a known, strict, Royal Navy enforcer named Lieutenant William Duddington. His shipped was named Her Majesty's Ship Gaspee. -
Committees of Correspondence Established
Committees created throughout the colonies to spread documents, letters, and pamphlets about British policies. The British postal service was used as communication and the committees became a symbol of unity. -
Boston Tea Party
Radical colonists, dressed as Native Americans, dumped 342 chests of British tea off of three British ships into Boston Harbor in protest of the British tax on tea. -
Coercive Acts
The laws passed by British Parliament in response to the Boston Tea Party. These included the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, and the Administration of Justice Act. Many colonists included the Coercive Acts and the Quebec Act into a category called the Intolerable Acts. -
Quebec Act
An act passed by the British Parliament that extended the boundary of Quebec into the Ohio Valley and established Roman Catholicism as the official religion in Quebec. This angered most of the colonists who disliked both the French and Catholics. -
First Continental Congress
Representatives from each colony, except for Georgia, met from September to October to protest the Intolerable Acts. They came up with a Declaration of Colonial Rights, which they sent to London. -
Paul Revere's Ride
When two lanterns were hung from the North Church in Boston, Paul Revere, along with two other men, road to inform the countryside that the British were coming by sea to attack. -
The Battle of Lexington and Concord
The first battle of the war, it started with a plan by the British to seize the colonists’ militia supply depot at Concord. British troops traveled to Concord on a road that took them through Lexington. Paul Revere and William Dawes were sent to alarm the colonists. Started with the “shot heard round the world” and was a success for colonists. -
Second Continental Congress
A meeting of the representatives from the First Continental Congress, to discuss how to defeat the British threat. A Continental Army was created, the printing of money was authorized, and a foreign relations committee was created. The Second Continental Congress became a full governing body. -
George Washington Appointed General
The Second Continental Congress appointed George Washington to be the supreme commander of the Continental Army, and he chose to serve without pay. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
American soldiers fought wave after wave of British troops at the Battle of Bunker Hill. They did not win the battle, but they managed to kill or wound half of the British troops that were there. It served as a great boost for American morale. -
Olive Branch Petition
A document approved by the Continental Congress. It stated that the colonies were still loyal to the King, and it asked the King to call of hostilities until the issues could be solved peacefully. -
Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition
A proclamation from King George III that stated that the colonists were openly disobeying his authority and were subject to severe punishment. -
Commen Sense Published
A book written by Thomas Paine that argued for independence from England and the establishment of a democratic republic. -
British Evacuate Boston
British forces were forced to evacuate Boston after realizing their position at Dorchester Heights was indefensible because of the fortifications and cannons set up by George Washington and his army. -
Writing of the Declaration of Independence
Writing of the Declaration of Independence started on June 12, 1776 by the Declaration Committee. This committee included Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Ben Franklin. Rewrites of the Declaration continued until it was published on July 4, 1776. -
Declaration of Independence
Legal documentation of America’s proposed independence. Contains certain basic rights that all colonists wanted to have, complaints from the colonists, and declares the states in America free and independent. -
British Pulled out of Virginia
Colonist soldiers attacked the British troops of Virginia’s governor Dunmore. The British then pulled out of Virginia.
