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End of French and Indian War
The British received the territories of Canada from France and Florida from Spain, but permitted France to keep it's West Indian Sugar Islands and gave Louisiana to Spain. The treaty strengthened the American colonies by removing their European rivals to the north and south and opening the Mississippi valley to westward expansion. -
Proclamation of 1763
King George III declared all lands west of the Appalachian divide off limits to the colonists. It forbade any colonists from or make any agreements with the natives. This was supposed to protect colonists and Native Americans from each other. -
Stamp Act
This act required colonists to raise money for the military defense of the colonies. They taxed all paper products (newspapers, playing cards, licenses, and legal documents). -
Quatering Act
Act required American colonists to provide food ad lodging for British Soldiers. -
Boston Massacre
British Soldiers in Boston pushes the colonists to a boiling point. The soldiers were confronted by an angry and aggressive crowd. British soldiers fire in the crowd and kill five colonists. -
Tea Act
This act attempts to save the British East India Company financially. It allowed the company to export the tea directly to the colonies instead of going to Great Britain First. Britain tried to tax the colonists without their consent. The colonists refused which led to boycotts. -
Boston Tea Part
Boston takes action and a group of Boston men dump cargoes of tea from the East India Company, into the Boston Harbor. -
Coercive Acts
This act was meant to punish Massachusetts. The Boston Harbor is closed to all trade, and the colony's right to self government is abolished. People are forced to provide lodging for British troops again. -
First Continental Congress
This took place in Philadelphia. The Congress adopted a Declaration of American Rights, meaning it denied Parliaments authority to regulate internal colonial affairs. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
This was the start of the American Revolutionary War. British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord. A confrontation on the Lexington town green started off the fighting. The British retreated under intense fire. -
Second Continental Congress
Elects George Washington commander in chief of the Continental Army in June They also send an Olive Branch Petition to King George III to avoid conflict, but the King denies it. They also finalized and adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 2-4, 1776. -
New York Campaign
British Army successfully moved against the American Continental Army led by George Washington. Britain tried to seize control of New York and isolate New England from the rest of the colonies. Washington's defeat could have led to the surrender of his force, but his ingenuity allowed him to escape. -
Battle of Princeton
Pivotal battle in which General George Washington's revolutionary forces defeated British forces near Princeton, New Jersey. -
Battle of Saratoga
Two battles, were a turning point in the American Revolution. General Burgoyne achieved a small victory over Horatio Gates but on October 7, 1777 Burgoyne was defeated and forced to retreat. -
Southern Campaign
British military strategist saw the south as a loyalist stronghold. It was the central area of operations in North America in the 2nd half of the American Revolutionary War. -
Articles of Confederation
1st written of the U.S. ratified by the original 13 states . It was weak in central authority. -
Battle of Yorktown
Last battle of the war. General Cornwallis surrendered and America had won the American Revolutionary War. -
Constitutional Convention
Special federal convention gathered to revise the Articles of Confederation. They scrapped the Articles of Confederation. -
Ratification of the Constitution
The people who supported the new Constitution, the Federalists, began to publish The Federalist Papers. The Bill of Rights was written by James Madison.
