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Albany Plan of Union
In responce to French attacks on the frontier, Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan for uniting the colonies. This plan was called the Albany Plan of Union.The colonies rejected the plan because it gave too much power to an assembly made up of representatives from all thirteen colonies. -
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French and Indian War
Great Britain won the war and gained complete control of the eastern third of the continent. -
George III Becomes King
He had a different idea about how the colonies should be governed. -
Stamp Act
This act imposed the first direct tax on the colonists. It required them to pay a tax on legal documents, pamphlets, newspapers, and even dice and playing cards. -
Stamp Act Congress
The first meeting organzed by the colonies to protest King George's actions. Delegates sent a petition to the king arguing that only the colonial legislatures could impose direct taxes such as the Stamp Tax. -
Boston Tea Party
A group of colonists, dressed as Mohawk Indians, dumped 342 chests of British Tea into Boston Harbor. -
Coercive Acts
In retaliation to the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passed these acts which the colonists called the intollerable acts. These were major acts, that closed Boston Harbor and withdrew the right of Massachusetts colony to govern itself. -
Committees of Correspondence
Organizations that urged resistance to the British. They were made up of colonists who wanted to keep in touch with one another as evernts unfolded. Samuel Adams established the first committee in Boston. -
First Continental Congress
Delegates from all the colonies except for Georgia attended this meeting in Philadelphia. They discussed what to do about their situation with Great Britain. They finally decided on an embargo and boycotted British goods. -
Lexington and Concord
In responce to the embargo and the boycott, British Redcoats clashed with colonial minutemen at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. This was the first battle of the Revolutionary War. This is known as the shot heard around the world. -
Second Continental Congress
This congress immediately assumed the powers of a central government. It chose John Hancock as the president and then organized an army and a navy. They then issued money and appointed George Washington as commander of the Continental Army. -
Resolution of Independece
Richard Henry Lee declared independence through his resolution in the Continental Congress. It read "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states." -
Declaration of Independence
On this date, Cogress approved the final draft of the constitution. John Hancock, the president of the Congress, was the first to sign the document. Eventually it held all 56 signatures of all of the delegates present.