Washington crosses the delaware

American Revolution Timeline

  • Sons of Liberty

    Sons of Liberty

    The Sons of Liberty were the beginning of the revolutionary war. They fought against England's taxation .
  • Stamp Act of 1765

    Stamp Act of 1765

    The act required the colonists to pay a tax, represented by a stamp, on various forms of paper, documents, and playing cards. The stamp act was very unpopular among colonists.
  • Boston Tea Party

    Boston Tea Party

    The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773 at Griffin's wharf in Boston Massachusetts. The attacking ships were from North America.
  • First Continental Congress meets

    First Continental Congress meets

    The colonies elected delegates to the First Continental Congress in various ways. The idea of using non-importation as leverage was neither new nor unexpected.
  • Battle of Bunker Hill

    Battle of Bunker Hill

    In early 1775 tensions between Britain and her colonies had escalated. The colonists began to get ready for war.
  • Olive Branch Petition sent to England

    Olive Branch Petition sent to England

    The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by Congress on July 5, 1775, to be sent to the King as a last attempt to prevent formal war from being declared. The petition showed their loyalty to the British crown and highlighted their rights as British citizens.
  • Battles of Lexington & Concord

    Battles of Lexington & Concord

    he British marched into Lexington and Concord intending to suppress the possibility of rebellion by seizing weapons from the colonists. Paul Revere and other riders raised the alarm that British regulars were on their way to concord.
  • Thomas Paine’s Common Sense published

    Thomas Paine’s Common Sense published

    The first version of Paine’s pamphlet was printed just a few blocks from the current-day National Constitution Center in colonial Philadelphia in 1776. In his later years, Paine would become a controversial figure because of his writings on religion and his role in the French revolution; only a handful of people attended his funeral in 1809.
  • Battle of Trenton

    Battle of Trenton

    After crossing the Delaware River in a treacherous storm, General George Washington's army defeated a garrison of Hessian mercenaries at Trenton. On the night of Christmas, December 25, 1776, Washington implemented at audacious plan that would improve the fortunes of American forces.
  • Battle of Camden

    Battle of Camden

    It was the worst American defeat in the field and left the British in temporary control of the southern colonies. It was the worst American defeat in the field and left the British in temporary control of the southern colonies.
  • Treaty of Paris

    Treaty of Paris

    The American War for independence was a world conflict. The treaty is named for the city in which it was negotiated
  • Great Compromise

    Great Compromise

    Was an agreement reached during the constitutional convention of 1787. Three branches of government were created with separate powers.
  • 3/5 compromise

    3/5 compromise

    The Three-Fifths Compromise was reached among state delegates during the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Over the long term, the Three-Fifths Compromise did not work as the South anticipated.
  • Constitution is ratified

    Constitution is ratified

    Written in 1787, ratified in 1788, and in operation since 1789, the United States Constitution is the world’s longest surviving written charter of government. For over two centuries the Constitution has remained in force because its framers successfully separated and balanced governmental powers to safeguard the interests of majority rule and minority rights, of liberty and equality.
  • Battle of Yorktown

    Battle of Yorktown

    After six years of war, both the British and Continental armies were exhausted. They surprised the British in a siege that turned the tide toward an American victory in the War for Independence.