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Battles of Trent and New Jersey
The Battles of Trent and New Jersey was a small but important battle that happened during the Revolutionary War. The battle took place on the morning of December 26 in New Jersey. -
Manumission
The freeing of individual enslaved people. 1776-1778 -
New Hampshire ratifies Constitution
In January of 1776, the Congress of New Hampshire voted to establish a civil government and specified the manner and form that the government would have. The constitution was the first constitution ever ratified by an American. -
Jefferson Writes The Declaration Of Independence
In June of 1776, Thomas Jefferson, president of the United States, wrote the Declaration Of Independence. This paper signified independence from Great Britain. Members signed the paper from the 13 colonies. -
State Constitutions
State constitutions establish certain parts of government for the State, like these parts with their powers, and deny certain powers.
The written constitutions of the States do not comprise the entire constitution or fundamental law. -
Articles of Confederation
The original constitution of the US, made in 1781, which was replaced by the US Constitution in 1789. The Articles of Confederation served as the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. -
Howe captures Philadelphia
Before Howe captured Philadelphia, he was held responsible for capturing New York. He successfully took Philadelphia in September 1777. -
American and British Battle of Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga occurred in September and October of 1777, during the second year of the American Revolution. There were two battles fought during this time. It was a big victory for the Continental Army and sired up the Revolutionary War. Since the French helped defeat the British at Yorktown and it's location, it made it easy for the Americans and the French to circle around the British. -
Congress Prohibits Enslaved People Imported To the US
The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves was a United States federal law that provided that no new slaves were permitted to be imported into the United States. This caused fewer slaves. Thousands of people were put into one boat with very few amounts of water and food placed packed together not being able to move. -
Winter at Valley Forge
The Winter at Valley Forge was brutally cold and hundreds died from the disease. Before most died off, there were roughly 11,000 soldiers stationed there. The troops were held together by loyalty to the patriots because of General Washington, who stayed with his soldiers. -
John Paul Jones & Serapis
In August 1779, Jones took command of the Bonhomme Richard and sailed around Great Britain. In September, Bonhomme Richard engaged the Serapis. This action burned ships across the sea. -
Spain Declares war on Great Britain
Spain declared war on Britain as an ally of France, an ally of the American colonies, and provided supplies and munitions to the American forces. -
British Forces Capture Charles Town
After a siege that began in 1780, Americans suffered the revolution on this day, with the unconditional surrender of Major General Benjamin Lincoln to British Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton and his army of 10,000 people at Charleston, South Carolina. The British captured more than 3,000 Patriots and a ton of equipment, losing only 250 killed and wounded in the process. -
Plans for first Federal Tax
Abraham Lincoln imposed the first federal income tax by signing the Revenue Act. Lincoln and Congress agreed to impose a 3 percent tax on annual incomes over $800. -
British Surrender at Yorktown
British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered his army of 8,000 men to General George Washington at Yorktown, giving up any chance of winning the Revolutionary War. The reason for this is because the American siege exhausted the British army's supplies of food and ammunition. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was the official peace treaty between the United States and Britain that ended the American Revolutionary War. This signified freedom to the Americans and the British. -
Spain closed lower Mississippi River to American Western Settlers
The treaty provided that the Mississippi River was the western boundary of the United States and also guaranteed Americans the right of free navigation. In 1784 Spain closed the navigation of the Mississippi to Americans. Westerners were furious and started a war against Spain. -
The Ordinance of 1785
The Ordinance of 1785 set up a standardized system where settlers could purchase title to farmland in the undeveloped land in the west. It also laid the foundations of the land policy until passage of the Homestead Act of 1862. -
The North West Ordinance
The North West Ordinance chartered a government for the Northwest Territory provided a method for admitting new states to the Union from the territory and listed a bill of rights guaranteed in the territory. -
Shay's Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion was armed in Western Massachusetts in opposition to a debt crisis among the citizenry and the state government's increased efforts to collect taxes both on individuals and their trades The fight took place mostly in and around Springfield during 1786 and 1787. -
Convention
In May of 1787, George Washington was persuaded to attend the Constitutional Convention and subsequently was unanimously elected its president. -
Singing of the Constitution
The Signing of the United States Constitution occurred on September 17, 1787, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, when 39 delegates to the Constitutional Convention, representing 12 states all except Rhode Island, started the Constitution created during the four-month-long convention. -
Delaware first state to approve Constitution
The citizens of Delaware believed that a stronger national government under the Constitution would help protect them against fighting and level the economic playing field with larger states. This took place in December of 1787. -
Land Act of 1800
On April 15, 1800, the government approved the Harrison Land Act. Under this law, people had the opportunity to buy land in the Northwest Territory directly from the federal government.
