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Key Events of Revolutionary War and Declaration of Independence

  • Lexington and Concord

    Lexington and Concord
    The first shots fired at the Battle of Lexington and Concord started off the revolutionary war, after several years of tension between Colonists and the English. Historians still debate which side fired first, but soon after shots rang out, British troops quickly began fleeing the area as they were outnumbered. These first shots were also the reason that the well-known quote of Paul Revere was cried out: "The British are coming!"
  • Second Continental Congress

    Second Continental Congress
    The Second Continental Congress was a meeting of 12 out of 13 colonies that joined forces in the American Revolutionary War. By the time the colonies met for the Second Congress, war had already broken out in Lexington and Concord. They met as a makeshift government body, even though it had no legal government power, and signed treaties, raised armies, appointed people to take role as generals, issued paper currency, and spend funds.
  • George Washington Appointed

    George Washington Appointed
    George Washington, who would later become the 1st President of the United States, was first assigned as a Congressman in the Second Continental Congress. The only colony that did not meet in the Second Continental Congress was Georgia, who previously had not attended the first congress. The Congress voted to make the Continental Army after war broke out in Lexington and Concord, and quickly appointed Washington as the Continental Army General.
  • Olive Branch Petition

    This petition was really the final attempt from the colonies to curb the war between them and British rule during the Revolutionary War, sort of like the final straw before they decided that force is the only way that they can gain their independence.
  • Declaration of Independence is Signed

    Declaration of Independence is Signed
    We finally have our freedom from British rule!! The Declaration of Independence was issued on July 4, 1776 yet wasn't signed until around a month later on August 2, 1776.