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End of the French and Indian War
The French and Indian War ended by signing the treaties of Paris in February 1763. In the Treaty of Paris, France lost all claims to Canada and gave Louisiana to Spain, while Britain received Spanish Florida, Upper Canada, and various French holdings overseas. The treaty ensured the colonial and maritime supremacy of Britain and strengthened the 13 American colonies by removing their European rivals to the north and the south. -
Proclamation of 1763
British leaders feared that more fighting would take place on the frontier if colonists kept moving onto American Indian lands. This law banned British settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains. It also ordered settlers to leave the upper Ohio River Valley. -
Stamp Act of 1765
An attempt by the British to raise money to pay off their war debt by taxing everyday items, like legal documents, newspapers, advertisements, licenses, etc. -
Quartering Act of 1765
The Parliament passed the Quartering Act to required the colonial towns to provide shelter & supplies for the British troops. This act was approved before the declaratory act. -
Stamp Act Congress
The first meeting of delegates from around the colonies to address the unfair taxes from the British. It was between October 7 and 25, 1765, in New York City. The assembly issued the Declaration of Rights and Grievances. The taxes they opposed were repealed and the man who enforced them was fired. -
Boston Massacre
Bostonians did not like the presence of British troops and thought of them as foreign enemies. On March 5, 1770, a British soldier had an argument with a colonist and struck him. A crowd gathered around the soldier, throwing snowballs and shouting insults. British troops killed 5 Americans, during a heated protest. The Boston Massacre fanned the flames of revolution. -
Tea Act of 1773
The Tea Act was passed by Parliament on May 10, 1773. Because of the high taxation, smugglers smuggled tea into the colonies from Holland where the tea was cheaper. The British had tons of unsold tea, and they decided to lower the price of the tea to encourage colonists stopping smuggling the tea. -
Boston Tea Party
Less smuggling would result in more tax money. Thus, the Sons of Liberty dressed up as Mohawk Indians and sneaked onto three tea-filled British East India Company ships in the harbor and dumped over 340 chests into Boston Harbor. The Boston Tea Party was a significant event in the growth of the American Revolution. -
Coercive (Intolerable) Acts 1774
The Intolerable Acts were punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. In Great Britain, the Intolerable Acts was referred to as the Coercive Acts. Punished Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party by closing the Boston Harbor. Massachusetts legislature was suspended because of disrupting the colony's government. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies (except Georgia) who met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. It was called in response to the Intolerable Acts passed by the British Parliament. Although they established a boycott of British goods and issued a Declaration of Rights, they were not pursuing independence from the British. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battle of Lexington and Concord happened on April 19, 1775, happened in Lexington Massachusetts and Concord Massachusetts. The first shots were fired just as the sun was rising at Lexington. The British marched to the city of Concord searching for military supplies. The Americans defeated the British troops at the North Bridge. British decided to retreat back to the city of Boston. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in the spring of 1775 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Second Congress managed the Colonial war effort and moved incrementally towards independence. -
New York Campaign (Battle of Long Island)
The Battle of Long Island is also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights. The victory over the Americans gave the British control of the strategically important city of New York. George Washington and the Continental Army were eventually forced to retreat all the way to Pennsylvania. It was fought on August 27, 1776, and was the first major battle of the American Revolutionary War to take place after the United States declared its independence on July 4, 1776. -
Battle of Princeton
The Battle of Princeton was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, fought near Princeton, New Jersey on January 3, 1777. The Battle of Princeton ended in victory for the American colonists. The battles of Trenton and Princeton were a boost to the morale of the Continental troops, leading many recruits to join the Continental Army in the spring. -
Battle of Saratoga
The Battles of Saratoga and the surrender of the British army under General Burgoyne was one of the major turning points of the Revolutionary War. The Americans morale was boosted and the country now felt it could win the war. Just as important to the war, the French decided to support the Americans with military aid. -
Articles of Confederation
It was an agreement among the 13 original states of the United States of America that served as its first constitution. It was approved by the Second Continental Congress on November 15, 1777. Articles of Confederation made the states had most of the power and the central government had very little. -
Southern Campaign
The Southern Campaign of the American Revolution picks up the story after the fall of Charleston in 1780. After catastrophes at The Waxhaws and Camden, victories in battles and skirmishes such as Brattonsville, Musgrove Mill, Kings Mountain, and Cowpens expelled the British invaders and defeated their loyalist friends, leading to the surrender at Yorktown, Virginia. The Battle of Guilford Courthouse (North Carolina) and the siege of Ninety Six are also featured in the series. -
Battle of Yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown was the last great battle of the American Revolutionary War. The British were trapped on the Virginia coast by the French Navy and the Continental army attacked from land. The loss of another army led the British to sue for peace. -
Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, in the old Pennsylvania State House (known as Independence Hall). James Madison of Virginia and Alexander Hamilton of New York created a new government rather than fix the existing one. George Washington of Virginia was unanimously elected president of the Convention. The result of the Convention was the US Constitution. The Constitution gave the central government more power, but still reserved power to the states. -
Ratification of the Constitution
On June 21, 1788, the Constitution became the official governing document of the United States of America when New Hampshire became the ninth of 13 states to ratify it. The first state to ratify the Constitution was Delaware on December 7, 1787. Today the U.S. Constitution is the oldest written constitution in operation in the world.
