American Revolution Events

Date

Event

1763	The French and Indian War ends. The British defeat France and acquire the French empire in North America.
1765	Britain passes the Stamp Act to directly tax the colonists. The act requires that revenue stamps be put on all legal documents, deeds, newspapers, pamphlets, dice, and playing cards.
1766	The Stamp Act is repealed. However, a Declaratory Act reiterates Britain's right to pass laws for and levy taxes on the colonies.
1773	During the Boston Tea Party, colonists disguised as Native Americans throw tea from British ships into the ocean to protest the Tea Act (December). The act was passed to allow the British East India Company to sell tea to the colonists, but the tea included a British tax.
1774	Intolerable Acts are passed. They close the port of Boston, curtail the powers of local assemblies, provide for compulsory quartering of troops by colonists, and exempt imperial officials from trial in Massachusetts. An additional act establishes a colonial administration in Québec on terms that further provoke the American colonists.
1775	American militias defeat British troops in the battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the war (April).
1775	American troops capture Fort Ticonderoga, beginning the war in New York (May).
1775	The British defeat the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The Continental Congress commissions George Washington to lead the Continental Army (June).
1776	The Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence (July).
1776	The British defeat American troops at the Battle of Long Island, seizing the city of New York (August).
1776	Washington and his troops cross the Delaware River to launch a surprise attack; they defeat the British at the battles of Trenton and Princeton (December).
1777	British troops capture Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, home of the Continental Congress (September).
1777	British troops are defeated at Saratoga, New York, failing to cut New England off from the rest of the colonies (October).
1778	The Continental Congress enters a formal alliance with France, which provides money, weapons, and soldiers (February).
1778	The British capture Savannah, Georgia, in an effort to implement their Southern strategy, an attempt to capture Southern colonies with support of Southern Loyalists (December).
1779	Colonial troops seize a British fort at Vincennes, taking control of the war in the west (February).
1779	The colonial vessel, Bonhomme Richard, forces the surrender of the British warship, Serapis (September).
1780	British forces capture Charleston, South Carolina, as part of the Southern strategy (May).
1781	The British are defeated at Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina and realize that their Southern strategy is unlikely to succeed (March).
1781	The British surrender at Yorktown, ending most of the fighting in North America (October).
1783	The Treaty of Paris is signed, recognizing the independence of the United States (September).
1787	The Constitution of the United States is signed by the delegates of the Constitutional Convention (September).
1789	The Constitution becomes effective.