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The end of the French & Indian War.
The French and Indian War, known in Europe as the Seven Year's War, ends with the Treaty of Paris. Under the treaty, France gives England all French territory east of the Mississippi River, except New Orleans. The Spanish give up east and west Florida to the English in return for Cuba. -
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 is issued.
Signed by King George III of England, the purpose of the proclamation was to organize Great Britain's new North American empire and to stabilize relations with Native North Americans through regulation of trade, settlement, and land purchases on the western frontier. -
The Sugar Act is passed.
The Sugar Act is passed by the English Parliament to offset the war debt brought on by the French and Indian War and to help pay for the expenses of running the colonies and newly acquired territories. -
The Currency Act.
The Currency Act prohibits the colonists from issuing any legal tender paper money. This act threatens to destabilize the entire colonial economy of both the industrial North and agricultural South, thus uniting the colonists against it. -
The Quartering Act.
The Quartering Act required colonists to house British troops and supply them with food, and was circumvented in all colonies other than Pennsylvania. This act expired on March 24, 1767. -
Commencement of the Stamp Act.
The Stamp Act required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp. The purpose of the tax was to help pay for troops stationed in North America after the British victory in the Seven Years' War. The British government felt that the colonies should pay at least a portion of the expense. -
Repeal of the Stamp Act.
King George III signs a bill repealing the Stamp Act after much debate in the English Parliament, which included an appearance by Ben Franklin arguing for repeal and warning of a possible revolution in the American colonies if the Stamp Act was enforced by the British military. -
The Boston Massacre.
The Boston Massacre occurs as a mob harasses British soldiers who then fire their muskets pointblank into the crowd, killing three instantly, mortally wounding two others and injuring six. After the incident, the new Royal Governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Hutchinson, withdraws British troops out of Boston to nearby harbor islands. -
The Boston Tea Party.
About 8000 Bostonians gather to hear Sam Adams tell them Royal Governor Hutchinson has repeated his command not to allow the ships out of the harbor until the tea taxes are paid. That night, the Boston Tea Party occurs as colonial activists disguise themselves as Mohawk Indians then board the ships and dump all 342 containers of tea into the harbor. -
"Shot heard 'round the world."
On April 18, 1775, General Gage orders 700 British soldiers to Concord to destroy the colonists' weapons depot. That night, Paul Revere and William Dawes are sent from Boston to warn colonists. On April 19, 1775, about 70 armed Massachusetts militiamen stand face to face on Lexington Green with the British advance guard. An unordered 'shot heard around the world' begins the American Revolution. -
"Common Sense" is published.
"Common Sense" was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. It presented the American colonists with an argument for freedom from British rule at a time when the question of independence was still undecided. It became an immediate success and had the largest sale and circulation of any book in American history. -
The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted.
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire.
