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Battle of Lexington and Concord
The British were sent to seize the weapons and gunpowder that the colonists had been secretly collecting and hiding. However, Paul Revere warned the colonists that the British were coming, and many small militias grabbed their guns and prepared to fight. When the British arrived, the colonists were ready, and they successfully drove the British out. As they traveled the 16 miles back to Boston, the British were getting shot at the entire way by angry colonists: the American revolution had begun. -
Capture of Fort Ticonderoga
Samuel Adams predicted that the British would take a certain route when they came to isolate New England that would go through Canada. However, the Americans did not have much Canadian support, so they decided to attack Fort Ticonderoga. They decided this because it was placed at a strategic point, contained heavy artillery, and it was lightly guarded. Jonathan Trumball and Benedict Arnold launched a surprise attack, and no shots were fired. The Americans had finally gained some control. -
Second Continental Congress Meets
The second Continental Congress meeting took place in Philadelphia. At this point, New England militia had formed an army around Boston, and the Congress had to decide who would be in charge of this army. However, John Adams suggested they create a “continental army” with troops from all the colonies, as opposed to troops from just New England. They still had to appoint a commander-in-chief, and John Adams nominated George Washington, a skilled general who could unite the colonies. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Israel Putnam led a few hundred militiamen up Breed’s Hill. In four hours they had a crude fort. William Howe then ordered his newly arrived troops to launch an immediate attack. As the British drew closer, the militiamen waited until they were nearly on top of them to fire. The sudden shots made the redcoats fall back in confusion. It took until the third attack for the British to finally reach the top of the hill, but this was because the Americans had run out of gunpowder.Many British died. -
Battle of Quebec
Washington and the Continental Congress had decided they wanted to seize Quebec in order to gain forces from the French-Canadians there. However, the city was being protected by British defenders. The plan was to split the Continental Army in two and attack from different points. One army, under General Richard Montgomery, would attack from New York. The other would begin in Massachusetts and go all the way to Canada. However, the British were ready and it ended in hasty american retreat. -
Declaration of Independence Issued
Shortly after the British flee from Boston, the Continental Congress created a committee to write a declaration of independence. Thomas Jefferson, the youngest of the committee, was put in charge of drafting the document. Jefferson’s simple explanation argued that everyone was born equal in the eyes of god, and therefore had the same rights. He also argued that King George III was “unfit to be the ruler of a free people” because he had committed so many acts of tyranny. -
Battle of Long Island
On August 27, 1776, the Americans battled the British in Brooklyn. The Americans began fighting with high spirits, but that was soon put to a stop as the superiorly trained British killed 1,407 of them. It was then that Howe ordered a halt on the attack because he believed Washington would retreat, However Washington did not want to give up. In the end, an officer named Thomas Mifflin deemed the situation hopeless, and they retreated. -
British Occupy New York
After the battle for New York, the British drove out the rest of the Americans. Times were tough for the Continental Army because there was shortage of food, clothes, and men. As more were killed, more left as soon as their enlistment was up, and they urged people not to join the army for it was too risky. -
Battle of Trenton/ Crossing the Delaware
On the night of December 25, 1776, Washington and his army crossed the icy Delaware River. Once on the shore of New Jersey, the army marched on to Trenton. Along the way it snowed hard, leaving all their guns soaked and useless. Washington ordered that they use the bayonets, because the city had to be taken. Once there, the Hessians, taken by complete surprise, surrendered, and Washington didn’t lose a single man. He then took 868 prisoners and 300 British troops. Now General Howe was worried. -
Articles of Confederation Issued
Continental Congress needed to create a document that would serve as the law of the 13 free states.They put John Dickinson to the task. He proposed a strong central government, but their experience with Britain’s central government swayed them to give the states more independence.The Articles limited the functions of the federal government and took away the power to enforce requests for troops or money. However, it took several years to get ratification because of small disputes within states.