Revolutionary War Timeline

  • French Indian War

    French Indian War
    The French and the British were fighting over control of the Ohio River Valley. The war lasted 9 years and cost the British a lot of money. The British won but were in significant debt. In order to pay off the debt, they start taxing the colonists, sparking the first dispute between the colonies and the crown.
  • The Stamp Act

    The Stamp Act
    The Stamp Act of 1765 was the first internal tax and it was directly on the American colonists by the British Parliament. The act was a tax on all paper documents in the colonies. The British did it because they were in debt and were looking for the American colonies as a source of more money.
  • Quartering Act

    Quartering Act
    The Quartering Act was an act that allowed royal governors rather than just colonial legislatures to find homes and buildings to quarter or house the British soldiers. In 1774 following the Boston tea party the British passed 4 acts known as coercive acts. the first three acts closed the ports of Boston and took away Massachusetts to govern themselves and also to administer justice to British soldiers in the colony.
  • Townshend Act

    Townshend Act
    The Townshend act was passed by the British Parliament in 1767. It taxed imported goods that were being sent to American colonies. Also the British sent troops to enforce this law which made the tension higher between America and Britain.
  • The Boston Massacre

    The Boston Massacre
    The Boston Massacre was a deadly fight that occurred on March 5, 1770. a street brawl between an American Colonist and a British Soldier escalated into a bloody slaughter. And the murders that happened that day energized the anti-British sentiment and paved the way for the American Revolution.
  • The Battle Of Lexington and Concord

    The Battle Of Lexington and Concord
    The battles of Lexington and Concord fought on April 19 1775 kicked off the American Revolutionary War. A confrontation in Lexington Town started off the fighting and soon the British were under intense fire. Also, the British were looking into Concord for arms but it had moved so they put the leftovers on fire and caused a fight between the British and colonists
  • Battle of Bunker Hill

    Battle of Bunker Hill
    At the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, early in the Revolutionary War, the British defeated the Americans. Despite their loss, the inexperienced colonial forces inflicted significant casualties against the enemy, and the battle provided them with an important confidence boost during the Siege of Boston. Although commonly referred to as the Battle of Bunker Hill, most of the fighting occurred on nearby Breed’s Hill.
  • Battle of Trenton and Princeton

    Battle of Trenton and Princeton
    General George Washington’s army crossed the icy Delaware on Christmas Day 1776 and, over the course of the next 10 days, won two crucial battles of the American Revolution. In the Battle of Trenton (December 26), Washington defeated a formidable garrison of Hessian mercenaries before withdrawing. A week later he returned to Trenton to lure British forces south, then executed a daring night march to capture Princeton on January 3.
  • Battle of Saratoga

    Battle of Saratoga
    The Battle of Saratoga occurred in September and October 1777, during the second year of the American Revolution. 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. While fighting the Americans persuaded the french and Spanish to join their cause to fight the British because of a mutual rivalry.
  • Battle of Yorktown

    Battle of Yorktown
    When British General Lord Charles Cornwallis and his army surrendered to General George Washington’s American force and its French allies at the Battle of Yorktown on October 19, 1781, it was more than just a military win. The outcome in Yorktown, Virginia marked the conclusion of the last major battle of the American Revolution and the start of a new nation's independence. It also cemented Washington’s reputation as a great leader and eventual election as the first president of the US.
  • Treaty of Paris

    Treaty of Paris
    The Treaty of Paris of 1783 formally ended the American Revolutionary War. American statesmen Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and John Jay negotiated the peace treaty with representatives of King George III of Great Britain. In the Treaty of Paris, the British Crown formally recognized American independence and ceded most of its territory east of the Mississippi River to the United States, doubling the size of the new nation and paving the way for westward expansion.