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Roanoke
In 1584 Sir Walter Raleigh had was granted a charter by Queen Elizabeth I to colonize America. The first Roanoke colonists suffered from small food supplies and Indian attacks, and in 1586 they returned to England. In 1587, Raleigh sent out another group of 100 colonists under John White. White returned to England to get more supplies, but by the time he finally returned in in August 1590, everyone had vanished. -
Jamestown
On May 14, 1607, the Virginia Company settlers landed on Jamestown Island to establish the first permanent English colony in the Americas. It was believed that there was gold and silver in the New World. -
Navigation Act
British Parliament passed the Navigation Acts, controlling trade between the colonies and England. They believed the money the colonies made should be given to the Mother Country. -
Bacons Rebellion
Nathaniel Bacon led an uprising in Virginia because they were angry with Governor William Berkley's brutal policies about the Indians. Bacon and his followers burned down the Jamestown Colony in response. -
Great Awakening
The revival of religious feeling in the American Colonies during the 1730s and 1740s. Many people thought they were losing focus with their God. Johnathan Edwards, who wrote "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", was considered a new light preacher who ignited this awakening. -
French and Indian War
The British wanted to settle in the Ohio River Valley and to trade with the Native Americans who lived there. The French built forts to protect their trade with the Indians. They ended up fighting over the land and the French give up their land in North America in the Treaty of Paris on Feb. 10, 1763. Salutary neglect ends as a result of this. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was a modified version of the Molasses Act. The new Sugar act but the tax in half but was also enforced much stricter. This made it clear that the act was not to simply regulate the trade but to raise revenue hence its other name, the American Revenue Act. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. The money collected was used to finace the protection of the American frontier. -
Townshed Act
The Townshend Act placed import duties on British china, glass, paper, pasteboard, lead, paint, and tea. The act also created a Board of Customs Commissioners, based in Boston, to enforce them. The hope was that the acts would defray imperial expenses in the colonies, but many Americans viewed the taxation as an abuse of power. Because of this it was repealed in April 1770, except for the tax on tea. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre is remembered as a key event in helping to shock the colonial public to the Patriot cause. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party (initially referred to by John Adams as "the Destruction of the Tea in Boston was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston. The demonstrators destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent by the East India Company, in defiance of the Tea Act. -
Quartering Act
Passed June 2, 1774, the Quartering Act was designed to improve housing options for regular troops stationed in the colonies. It allowed military commanders to place soldiers in empty houses, barns, and other outbuildings. -
The First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies that met on September 5 to October 26, 1774 at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. They sent a petition to Engand to end enforcement of the Intolerable Acts. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. It was the first American victory. -
The Second Continental Congress
They wanted to tell King George III that they wanted peace. John Dickinson wrote "The Olive Branch Petition" and made suggestions on how to solve the problems, but the King didn't read it. -
Articles of Confederation
After considerable debate and alteration, the Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777. This document served as the United States' first constitution. -
Common Sense
Thomas Paine published Common Sense to pursuade colonists to choose a side(Patriots or Loyalists) to support for the Revolution. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence justified our right to revolt against a government that no longer guaranteed us our natural rights such as liberty and equality. -
Battles of Saratoga
On September 19, 1777, British acheived a small victory over the British but on October 7, the British were defeated by the Americans and forced to retreat. This is considered a turning point in the Revolutionary war because the French realized the colonist' cause and became their ally. -
US Constitution
The U.S. Constitution established America’s national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. It was signed on September 17, 1787, by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, presided over by George Washington.