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George Washington
George Washington was the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He was involved in most major battles of the war, including the Battle of Trenton, Saratoga, and Yorktown. Washington died on December 14, 1799. -
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry was an American attorney, planter and politician who became known as an orator during the movement for independence in Virginia in the 1770s. A Founding Father, he served as the first and sixth post-colonial Governor of Virginia, from 1776 to 1779 and from 1784 to 1786.Henry led the opposition to the Stamp Act 1765 and is remembered for his "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech. He is regarded as one of the most influential promoter of the American Revolution. -
John Hancock
John Hancock was a merchant, smuggler, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution.He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He is remembered for his large and stylish signature on the United States Declaration of Independence. He died on October 8, 1793. -
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold was a general during the American Revolutionary War; he originally fought for the American Continental Army but defected to the British Army. Arnold planned to surrender Westpoint, New York to the British, but when his plan was discovered, he was commissioned into the British Army. -
Marquis De Lafayette
Marquis De Lafayette was a French aristocrat and military officer who fought for the United States in the American Revolutionary War. A close friend of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson, Lafayette was a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830. -
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The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain that imposed a direct tax on the colonies of British America and required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp. The act helped encourage the revolutionary movement against the British Crown. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was an incident in which the British Army soldiers killed five male civilians and injured six others. The incident was heavily propagandized by leading Patriots, such as Paul Revere and Samuel Adams, to fuel animosity toward the British authorities. This further heightened tensions throughout the Thirteen Colonies. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston. The demonstrators, some disguised as American Indians, destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent by the East India Company, in defiance of the Tea Act. They boarded the ships and threw the chests of tea into Boston Harbor, ruining the tea. The British government responded harshly and the episode escalated into the American Revolution by Parliament creating the Intolerable Acts. -
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First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies that met at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. It was called in response to "The passage of the Coercive Acts" by the British Parliament. The Intolerable Acts had punished Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. The Congress met briefly to consider economic boycott of British trade; rights and grievances; and petitioned King George III. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge, near Boston. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen of its colonies. This was a Colonial victory. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Early in the Revolutionary War the British defeated the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill in Massachusetts. Despite their loss, the inexperienced colonial forces inflicted significant casualties against the enemy, and the battle provided them with an important confidence boost. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is the statement designed by the Continental Congress, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, who were at war with Great Britain at the time, regarded themselves as independent, sovereign states, and no longer a part of Great Britain. Instead they formed a new nation,the United States of America. John Adams was a leader in pushing for independence, but Thomas Jefferson was assigned to write the document. It was ready even before the country was. -
Battle Of Trenton
The Battle of Trenton was a small battle during the Revolutionary War, which took place in Trenton, New Jersey. After General George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River north of Trenton the previous night, Washington led the main body of the Continental Army against Hessian soldiers garrisoned at Trenton. After a brief battle, nearly the entire Hessian force was captured, with negligible losses to the Americans. This inspired the Colonial Army's reenlistments. -
Battles of Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the Revolutionary War. British General John Burgoyne led a large invasion army up the Champlain Valley from Canada, hoping to meet a similar force marching from New York City; the southern force never came, and Burgoyne was surrounded by American forces in upstate New York. Burgoyne fought two small battles, but surrendered his entire army. -
The Siege of Yorktown
The Siege of Yorktown was a decisive victory by a combined force of Continental Army troops led by General George Washington and French Army troops. The culmination of the Yorktown campaign, the siege proved to be the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War in the North American theater, as the surrender by Cornwallis, and the capture of both him and his army, prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict. The battle boosted faltering American morale.
