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Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was the first internal tax created for the colonists by the British. It placed a tax on all legal documents and printed paper in the colonies. This act was passed to pay for the losses in the French and Indian War. -
Townshend Act
England set import duties on lead, glass, paint colors, and tea. This was called the Townshend Act, named after Charles Townshend who sponsered it. On July 2, Parliament lifted the Townshend dutites off of all but tea, resulting in a brief truce. -
The Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre occured on March 5, 1770 when colonists were protesting against a British soldier by throwing snowballs at him. Back-up for the soldier was called in and eight colonists were shot, three killed. -
The Boston Tea Party
In protest of the British taxes on the colonies, the colonists decided to boycott the goods from England. This event was a prime example of such as the colonists dressed up as Indians and threw tea off of a ship into the Boston Harbor. -
The Intolerable Acts
After the Boston Tea Party. Parliament passed the Coercive Acts, also known as the Intolerable Acts. These acts included: the closing of the Port of Boston, the canceling of Town Meetings, the British officers being sent to England for trial, and the establishment of the Quartering Act. -
Second Continental Congress
This was a meeting among the representatives from each colony in Philadelphia that eventually came to the decision to remove themselves from British rule. In this meeting, Thomas Jefferson was selected to write the Declaration of Independence. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
This battle was both a victory and a loss for the Americans. Technically, the Americans ran out of ammo, forcing them to lose to the British soldiers. However, this was the costliest battle of the whole war for the British with them losing over 1000 men, giving the colonists a huge confidence boost. -
Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was an attempt to reconcile with the King of England. The colonist that wrote it, John Dickinson, explained that it was not the King that the colonists were angred by, and that they still loved and respected him. However, the king refused to even read the petition. -
The Publication of Common Sense
Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine, is one of the most influential pamphlets in all of American history. The pamphlet encourages the American Revolution and helped greatly with uniting the colonists together against the King. -
The Declaration of Independence
This document contained grievances against the King of England as well as America's claim for independence. The Declaration was written at the Second Continental Congress by Virginian Thomas Jefferson. -
Battle of Trenton
Although it was an unspoken rule not to fight on holidays, Washington led a surprise attack against the German soldiers working for Britian on the day after Christmas. Washington and his men crossed the Delaware and captured approximately 1000 of the soldiers. -
Battle at Saratoga
Saratoga is considered the turning point of the American Revolutionary War. Washington and his men fought this two battle fight over the course of eighteen days until approximately 5000 British soldiers surrendered. At this time, it was considered the biggest American victory of the war. -
Battle of Yorktown
On September 28, 1781, Washington and 17,000 Freanch and American troops surrounded Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. The troops had Cornwallis trapped from both land and sea. The siege only stopped on October 17, 1781 when the British surrendered. -
Treaty of Paris
This document not only ended the Revolutionary War, but also gave the American colonies their independence. In it, England and the Colonies set geographic borders and gave back the loyalist and British merchants what they had loss during the war.
