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First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress, which was comprised of delegates from the colonies, met in 1774 in reaction to the Coercive Acts, a series of measures imposed by the British government on the colonies in response to their resistance to new taxes. -
Second Continental Congress
On July 8, 1775 they tried again for peace by sending the Olive Branch Petition to the King of Britain. On July 4, 1776 they issued the Declaration of Independence declaring the United States as an independent country from Britain. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
Lexington and Concord, Battle of. The first battle of the Revolutionary War fought in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775. British troops had moved from Boston toward Lexington and Concord to seize the colonists' military supplies and arrest revolutionaries. -
Battle of Fort Ticonderoga
A small force of Green Mountain Boys led by Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold surprised and captured the fort's small British garrison. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
A few months after the start of the American Revolutionary War. Boston was being besieged by thousands of American militia. The British were trying to keep control of the city and control its valuable seaport. -
Olive Branch Petition
It was a document in which the colonists pledged their loyalty to the crown and asserted their rights as British citizens. The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by Congress. -
Common Sense
A pamphlet was written by Thomas Paine in 1775–1776 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Writing in clear and persuasive prose, Paine marshaled moral and political arguments to encourage common people in the Colonies to fight for the egalitarian government. -
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration explains why the colonies should break away from Britain. It says that people have rights that cannot be taken away, lists the complaints against the king, and argues that the colonies have to be free to protect the colonists' rights. At the bottom of the document, the delegates signed their names. -
Battles of New York
The Battle of Long Island was a decisive victory for the British. George Washington and the Continental Army were eventually forced to retreat all the way to Pennsylvania. The British remained in control of New York City for the rest of the Revolutionary War. -
Washington's Crossing
George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, which occurred on the night of December 25–26, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, was the first move in a surprise attack organized by George Washington against the Hessian (German mercenaries) forces in Trenton, New Jersey, on the morning of December 26. -
Battle of Saratoga
It included two crucial battles, fought eighteen days apart, and was a decisive victory for the Continental Army and a crucial turning point in the Revolutionary War. -
Valley Forge
Valley Forge was where the American Continental Army made camp during the winter of 1777-1778. It was here that the American forces became a true fighting unit. Valley Forge is often called the birthplace of the American Army. -
Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown was the last great battle of the American Revolutionary War. It is where the British Army surrendered and the British government began to consider a peace treaty. General Nathanael Greene had taken over command of the American Continental Army in the South. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was signed by U.S. and British Representatives on September 3, 1783, ending the War of the American Revolution. The 1783 Treaty was one of a series of treaties signed at Paris in 1783 that also established peace between Great Britain and the allied nations of France, Spain, and the Netherlands.