Timeline of Events Leading to the American Revolution

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1760- King George takes the throne of England. 1763- French and Indian War Ends. Canada and land east of the Mississippi River is added to Great Britiain’s Empire. 1765- The Stamp Act is passed. The Stamp Act was passed as a means to pay for British troops on the American frontier. The colonists were the ones paying for the troops and they violently protested the Act. 1766- The Stamp Act is repealed. 1768- British troops arrive in Boston to enforce laws. 1770- Four workers are shot by British troops stationed in Boston. The American Patriots labeled the killings “The Boston Massacre.” 1773- Massachusetts patriots dressed as Mohawk Indians protest the British Tea Act by dumping crates of tea into the Boston Harbor. The British Tea Act was when the British increased the taxes on tea that were shipped to the colonies. 1774- Benjamin Franklin and the First Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia. 1775- Shots are fired at Lexington and Concord. The colonists force the British troops back to Boston. George Washington takes command of the Continental Army. 1776- Thomas Paine’s Common Sense is published. The book contained many ideas that inspired the colonists to rebel against Great Britain. -After 39 revisions, Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence is finally passed by the Continental Congress. -A huge British force arrives in New York Harbor with hopes of crushing the rebellion. -The Continental Army is routed in Long Island, New York. -Washington crosses the Delaware River and captures a Hessian force at Trenton, NJ. -In December of 1776, The colonists were in desperate need o financing and arms. The congress sent Benjamin Franklin to France to urge the French to ally with America. 1777- In Separate battles, the Americans lose Fort Ticonderoga, Brandywine, Germantown, and Philadelphia to the British. -In October 1777, the Americans capture Saratoga and British fighters. 1778- France signs a treaty of alliance with the United States and the American Revolution becomes a world war. 1780- British attack Charleston, SC, and the city is destroyed. On October 19, 1781, the British General, Lord Cornwallis is forced to retreat to a the Virginian peninsula Yorktown. The French Navy surrounds the peninsula with ships, while the Americans soldiers chase the British by foot. Cornwallis is forced to surrender and the Americans win the Revolutionary War. 1781- A peace treaty is signed between Great Britain and the United States, and Britian surrenders the Colonies to the Americans. Causes of the American Revolution The Boston Massacre was an encounter on March 5, 1770, that was five years before the American Revolution between British troops and a group of citizens of Boston that were then in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

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