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Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was placed upon the colonists by England because the English were in debt due to the French and Indian War, and also wished to show their superiority. A total of 50 different items were taxed, including playing cards, marriage licenses, and newspapers! -
Protest of Stamp Act
During the summer of 1765, colonists began to display their anger and discontent regarding the stamp act. They boycotted British goods and created the Sons of Liberty, soon followed by the Daughters of Liberty. Most colonists even went so far as to ignore the Stamp Act completely. -
Gaspee Affair
The Gaspee Affair took place when a mob of colonists rushed and attacked a British ship called The Gaspee. The purpose of the Gaspee and other ships like it was to catch people trying to smuggle goods into the colonies. -
Committees of Correspondence Established
The Committees of Correspondence was established after the Gaspee Affair. Some of the colonists who rushed The Gaspee were going to be put on trail in England, violating their right to have a trial with a jury of peers. The Committees of Correspondence were established so that each colony would have the help of other colonies if a situation like this happened again. This was a big step in uniting the colonies! -
Boston Tea Party
Angered by the tea tax, during the night about 150 men, diguised as Native Americans, snuck aboeard a British Ship and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor. This soon became known as the Boston Tea party, and resulted in many limitations put upon Boston by new laws and acts. -
Coercive Acts
The Coercive Acts were passed as a way for the British to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party. King George III passed these laws that limited the colonists greatly, including shut down Boston Harbor until the colonists could pay for all the tea they had dumped in the harbor, and allowing British military officers live with colonists in their homes. -
Quebec Act
Passed right after the Coercive Acts, the Quebec Act stated that a governor and council appointed by the king would run Quebec. It also expanded Quebec's territory into Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin. -
First Continental Congress
As a response to the Intolerable Acts, the First Continental Congress was held in Philsdelphia and hosted 55 delegated from 12 colonies. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were a result of General Gage trying to seize the colonists' militia supplies. Paul Revere warned the town of Lexington that the British were coming, but there was a showdown in Concord. Nobody knows who fired the first shot against the British, but it began the American Revolution. -
Paul Revere's Ride
Paul Revere, along with William Dawes and Samuel Prescott rushed to Lexington on the night of April 18th, 1775, to warn the citizens that the British were on their way. On their way to warn Concord, Revere and Dawes were stopped by British officials, though Prescott got by and warned Concord. That night was the Battles of Lexington and Concord. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia three weeks after the battle of Lexington and Concord. The Congress met to discuss defense, and they decided to create a "continental army". -
George Washington Appointed General
Part of the Second Continental Congress was appoint a leader of the Continental Army. George Washington was chosen to do this. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Right after George Washington was appointed general, the British, wanting even more control over Boston, tried to sieze control of the hills north of the city. The Continental Army got there first and were prepared for the British, building a fort at the top of a hill. Even though the militia lost, over 1,000 British soldiers were killed. -
Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was a document sent to the King of Britain, and stated that the colonists were still loyal to the king, and asked him to call off hostilities until the situation could be worked out peacefully. When it arrived in Britain, King George III regused to look at it. -
Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition
The Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition was put into action by the British in response to the Battle of Bunker Hill. It basically stated that the colonists were rebelling, so the British could do anything in their power to stop them, encouraging the British to fight back against the colonist's attempts. -
British Pulled out of Virginia
After the Patriots defeated Governor Dunmore of Virginia at Great Bridge outside Norfolk, the British pulled their soldiers out of Virginia. -
Common Sense Published
Thomas Paine wrote and published a pamphlet entitled "Common Sense" that spoke of how the King of England was just as responsible for the unfair treatment of the colonies as Parliament was. This changed many colonists' oppinions of the king, and planted the idea of a justified revolution in the colonists' heads. -
British Evacuate Boston
After the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the Patriots blocked the British when they were in need of more men and more supplies. Then the Patriots took cannons and aimed them at the British ships in Boston Harbor. When the British saw this, they immidiatly left Boston. -
Writing of Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was written by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson in June of 1776. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a list of the colonists' grieivances toward their mother country. Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, this document broke the bond between the colonists and England, their mother country.
