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The French and Indian War
Colonists began to change their view on their destiny. “The Seven Years War”, began with George Washington invading the French with his redcoats. They were then surrounded by the French at Fort Necessity and the British ended up allying with the Iroquois. -
The Sugar Act
The sugar tax was the first tax on the colonists. It taxed all sugar coming from the West Indies. The British enforced this tax by importing customs officers and cracking down on smugglers, who had been smuggling cheaper sugar and rum into the colonies. -
The Stamp Act
Required that all printed products bear a seal of the king. This increased the cost of living for printers and other influential people throughout the colonies. This would later cause a meeting of the more important ‘paper users’ called the Stamp Act Congress. Originally invented for the support of the redcoats in America. -
Stamp Act Congress
A large group of delegates that gathered in New York. They filed all of their complaints to submit them to England and have Parliament repeal the Stamp Act. This was very largely ignored in England. -
Townshend Acts
This brought about a import tax on lead, glass, paper, paint, and tea. This effectively irritated the colonists. Which would end up resulting in the Boston Tea Party. -
The Boston Massacre
Colonists had banded together and were harassing British soldiers. The soldiers were ordered to fire on the colonists, and colonists were killed. Thanks to a revolutionary postal service, all of the other colonies were informed in a very timely fashion. -
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a result of the Townshend Act. Every other import tax was repealed except the tax on tea, this angered colonists and they ‘dressed up as indians’ and threw the equivalent of at least a million dollars of tea into Boston harbor. -
The First Continental Congress
The first Continental Congress met for seven weeks. Most of the delegates from twelve of thirteen colonies wanted reconciliation with England instead of Independence. -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
The British were looking for supplies of colonist armament, militia moved to stop the British. With a lack of training, the colonists flee after 8 of their comrades are killed. After Lexington, the colonists were prepared and harassed the British as they double timed away from Lexington and Concord. -
The Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a gathering of all the colonies to submit more grievances to the king. They created an “Olive Branch” petition that was submitted for hostilities that had occurred. This Congress began to raise money to fund an army. -
George Washington named Commander in Chief
George Washington was named the ‘Commander in Chief’ because he had ample experience fighting for the French and the British. He would later serve as the first and second president, and make attempts to bring peace between the political parties in the United States. -
The Battle of Bunker Hill
Actually took place on Breed’s Hill. The Colonists fired down on the British utterly decimating their ranks, until their ammunition ran out. Although the battle was considered a ‘loss’ colonists saw that they were able to beat back the British. -
Thomas Paine's Common Sense
Common Sense was the first ‘best seller’ , it sold over 120,000 copies. It put the terms of the not yet written Declaration of Independence, in the ‘common mans tongue’. It also questioned the very ideals the colonists were raised on about the British. -
The British Evacuate Boston
General Washington came up with an ambush plan for Boston. He would make cannon bunkers facing Boston and bombard the British into surrender. The British instead evacuated 11,000 soldiers and 1,000 loyalists. -
Richard Henry Lee proposes Independence
Richard Henry Lee proposed the idea of independence during the Second Continental Congress. He also served as the president of Continental Congress for a one year term. -
Declaration of Independence adopted
Congress agrees on the Declaration of Independence after a long debate on numerous revisions. This is now a national holiday. -
Declaration of Independence Signed
Due to the long time it took to travel in the 1700’s in order to get everyone to sign the declaration of independence, it took almost a full month to gather all of the congress delegates from their respective colonies.
