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The British government passes the Stamp Acts and places taxes tariffs on all printed goods to help pay for their war with the French. The colonists are outraged because they have no say in the government.
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Upset with the tax on tea, colonists dump British tea into the harbor as a demonstration.
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The first Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia to discuss how to further boycott the taxations of the British government.
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British troops clashed with colonial troops at Lexington and Concord creating "the shot heard round the world." The war for independence begins.
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George Washington is named Commander in Chief of the Continental Army.
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Colonists defeat the British at Bunker Hill.
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The second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia signing the Declaration of Independence, formally becoming their own country.
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Washington crosses the Delaware and captures Trenton from the British and Hessian mercenaries.
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The British capture Charleston South Carolina, one of the most important cities in the South.
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The Articles of Confederation, the first frame of government is written and signed by the Colonists.
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General Cornwallis, surrounded by land and sea by both the French and the Americans, surrenders in Yorktown. The War Ends
