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Stamp Act 1765
The act required that, starting in the fall of 1765, legal documents and printed materials must bear a tax stamp provided by commissioned distributors who would collect the tax in exchange for the stamp. -
Quartering Act 1774
This new act allowed royal governors, rather than colonial legislatures, to find homes and buildings to quarter or house British soldiers. -
Declaration of Independence 1776
By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain. The Declaration summarized the colonists' motivations for seeking independence. -
British surrender 1781
British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered his army of some 8,000 men to General George Washington at Yorktown, giving up any chance of winning the Revolutionary War -
British defeat 1783
The capture of another army left the British without a new strategy and without public support to continue the war. Peace negotiations took place in France and the war came to an official end -
The Constitution was signed 1787
The Constitution of the United States established America's national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens -
Naturalization Act 1790
Naturalization Act defined citizenship in stark racial terms. To be a citizen of the US republic, an immigrant had to be a “free white person” of “good character.” -
Bill of rights 1791
Adopted in 1791, the bill consisted of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution and outlined many of the personal rights state constitutions already guaranteed.
