A timeline of events that led up to the American Revolutionary War.
Created by j0500595 on Oct 4, 2010
Last updated: 12/06/10 at 06:36 PM
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This is an American victory that is considered to be the biggest turning point in the war. This is when France subsequently entered the war on the Americans' side.
This is the same battle as Trenton. With the victory at Princeton (Patriots), morale rose in the army and more men began to enlist in the army. The battle was the last major event of George Washington's winter in the New Jersey campaign.
This is an American victory where George Washington led a suprise attack on the Hessian Garrison at Trenton.
On July 4, 1776 congress adopted the document that proclaimed independence. The main idea is that people have rights that the government cannot take away from them.
Common Sense is a pamphlet Thomas Paine wrote to convince Americans that a break from Britian was necessary. This made people that were not sure about which side they were on believe that the Americans were the good guys and that a break from Great Britian was neccesary.
Led by Ethan Allen, the Americans captured Fort Ticonderoga in Lake Champlain in 1775. This victory opened up a natural route for the American invasion of Canada.
On May 10th, the Second Continental Congress began meeting in Philadelphia. The delegates were John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Patrick Henry.
Low ammunition during the third attack cost the rebel forces the fight, the heavy British casualties sustained at the Battle of Bunker Hill reinforced the American determination to win independence from Britain. Col. William Prescott and his troops stopped two assaults by the larger British force, who was led by Thomas Gage
The American Revolution began because of the colonist being sick of King George III's rule over them. The causes were unfair taxes and acts like the Stamp Act and Intolerable Acts. They didn't like mercantilism, and they didn't like that they weren't represented in Parliament.
Lexington and Concord are the first battles of the Revolutionary War. It was the "shot heard 'round the world". Obviously, this was the start of war, and the British were called the Loyalists while the Americans were called the Patriots.
This is a meeting where delegates met and voted to ban all trade with Britian until the Intolerable Acts were repealed. They also called all states to start training troops. This meeting marked a key step in American History. It planted the seeds of a future independent government.
As a punishment for the Boston Tea Party, Parliment passed the Intolerable Acts. In these acts, the port of Boston was closed untiil the colonies paid for for the destroyed tea. It also banned the Commitees of Correspondence, allowed Britian to house troops whenever the need it, and let British officials accused of crimes in the colonies stand trial in Britian (General Thomas Gage enforced the acts).
On December 16, 1773 a group of men disguised as Native Americans and boarded three tea ships at Boston Harbor. Hundreds of tea chests were dumped in the water. They believed Britain would realize how bad they hated taxation without representation, but this came to backfire against them and the result was the Intolerable Acts.
In the Tea Act, the British East India Company has control over America's tea trade. Colonists who didn't pay taxes on smuggled tea, now had to pay taxes on regulated tea. This enraged colonists, colonial merchants, and colonial shippers, and this act left the colonists wondering what Parliament would do next.
On March 5th, 1770 a name-calling war turned into a fight. The soldiers shot at the colonists and killed five people. This gave the colonists more of a reason to rebel. The people of Boston were outraged, and many colonists looked at the Boston Massacre as a symbol of British tyranny.
This plan was made by Charles Townshend. It suspended New York's assembly until they agreed to provide housing for the troops. It also placed taxes on a lot of goods like glass, paper, paint, led, and tea. To enforce the acts, British officers used search warrants to enter homes and businesses for smuggled goods. This led to boycotts and eventually, the Boston Massacre.
This was a cost-saving measure that required the colonies to house the British soldiers and give them supplies. Most of the troops were put in New York by General Thomas Gage.
This law made it mandatory that all legal documents and commercial documents carry an official stamp showing that a tax has been paid. The colonists had to pay for stamps with a silver, which was a scarce item in the colonies. the colonist were very angry, and they organized a boycott of British goods, attacked custom officials, burned stamp paper, and paraded in public. Parliament soon realized that the act was a mistake and repealed the Stamp Act, but they passed the Declaratory Act.
In this act, Parliament placed a tax on sugar, molasses, and other products shipped to the colonies. Also, this act put strict enforcement on smugglers. The colonists were angry and colonial leaders, like James Otis, protested and claimed that "Taxation without representation is tyranny!"
This was passed by King George III after the French and Indian War to ease the tension between the colonists and the Indians.The colonists were not allowed to settle west of the Appalachians which made the colonists mad because they thought they had the right to. This is one of the events that led to the Revolutionary War.
This said Britain claimed all of North America east of the Mississippi River and ended the French and Indian War. P.S. The Brittish WON.
The War was fought over land. This decided which nation would control the northern and eastern parts of North America.
This act was an agreement to respect the rights of English citizens and of Parliament. This document limited the powers of the king/queen. This document let people complain against the throne without being arrested, protected their rights, gave them trial by jury, approval by parliament, and also, fines and cruel punishments were outlawed/forbidden.
This constitution extended voting rights to non-church members and limited the power of the government. Also, they expanded the idea of representative government.
After being attacked by King Henry VIII of England, the pilgrims fled to Holland, but sooner or later they didn't like their life over there. They asked the Virginia Company if they could settle in America "as a distinct body as themselves." They arranged for them to settle in the boundaries of the east coast of North America, but when they arrived there, they settled outside the boundaries so their charter wasn't valid. That is why they made the Mayflower Compact. This document was an agreement that stated that Pilgrims vowed to obey laws agreed upon for the good of the colony. It helped establish the idea of self-government and majority rule.
The House of Burgesses is the first representative assembly in the American colonies. It gave the colonists more local control, and the colonists had to elect officials and meet up once every year.
Jamestown is important because it was the first successful english colony, but in the beginning, Jamestown went through many hardships. The site was swampy with malaria carrying mosquitoes. Colonists were sick, and since the colonists were told that the colony was going to be rich in gold, they spent their time searching for gold instead of building houses and growing food. Also, the climate was apart of their hardships, and by 1608 only 38 colonists were still living. Later that year, John Smith took control and his methods worked. That same year 800 more English settlers arrived in Jamestown.
This document was important because it limited the powers of the king and it gave the people trial by jury. Also, it guaranteed important rights to noblemen and freemen. They could only be taxed if a council of prominent men agreed, and they could punished only by their peers or people of the same rank. Over time, these rights were given to all English people, not just noble/freeman.
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