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King George III ascends to the throne of England.
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Treaty signed between England and France ending the French and Indian War. Canada and the continent east of the Mississippi River added to Great
Britain's growing empire.
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Parliament passes The Stamp Act as a means to pay for British troops on the American frontier. Colonists violently protest the measure..
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March 18. Stamp Act repealed, but on the same day parliament passes the Declaratory Act asserting its right to make laws binding on the colonies.
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October. British troops arrive in Boston to enforce customs laws.
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March. Four workers shot by British troops stationed in Boston. Patriots label the killings "The Boston Massacre."
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December. Massachusetts patriots dressed as Mohawk Indians protest
the British Tea Act by dumping crates of tea into Boston Harbor.
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January. The Privy Council reprimands Benjamin
Franklin in London for leaking letters damaging to the Royal Governor of Massachusetts. September. First Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia. |
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April. Shots fired at Lexington and Concord. "Minute Men" force British troops back to Boston. George Washington takes command of the Continental Army.
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January. Thomas Paine's Common Sense published. Becomes an instant best seller and pushes the colonies closer to independence.
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July 4. Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence ratified by the Congress
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July. A huge British force arrives in New York harbor bent on crushing the rebellion.
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August. Continental Army routed at Long Island, New York.
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December 26. Washington crosses the Delaware River and captures a Hessian force at Trenton, New Jersey.
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December. In desperate need of financing and arms, Congress sends Benjamin Franklin to France to urge the French to ally with America.
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July. A British force led by John Burgoyne takes Fort Ticonderoga in a devastating loss to the Americans. The Marquis de Lafayette arrives in America
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Washington defeated at Brandywine (September 11) and Germantown (October 4). Philadelphia is lost to the British.
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October 17. Americans capture Burgoyne and his army at Saratoga.
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February. France signs a treaty of alliance with the United States and the American Revolution becomes a world war.
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British attack Charleston, South Carolina. City falls in May.
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1780-'81 Americans "lose" series of engagements in the south, but exact a heavy toll on the British army.
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African-American Elizabeth Freeman sues for her freedom in Massachusetts. Her victory prohibits slavery in that state.
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October 19. A miraculous
convergence of American and French forces traps Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. He surrenders his British army.
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September. A peace treaty is signed between Great Britain and the United States.
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December. George Washington gives up command of the Continental Army and, to the astonishment of foreign observers, returns to private life.
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1783-'87 Noah Webster creates and publishes a speller which helps standardize American English.
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1785-'86 Treaty talks with Spain for rights to navigate the Mississippi fail because of regional conflicts between northern and southern states.
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1786-'87 Shay's Rebellion, an armed insurrection of debt-ridden farmers in Massachusetts, quashed by the state militia.
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Northwest Ordinance adopted by Confederation Congress. Prohibits slavery in territories and provides a means for new states to enter the union.
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In May, delegates
from all 13 states arrive in Philadelphia to rewrite the Articles of Confederation.
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September 18. The Constitutional Convention adjourns having passed a National Constitution that needs ratification from 3/4 of the states.
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The crucial states of Virginia (June 25) and New York (July 26) become the 10th and 11th states to pass the Constitution.
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December. A Bill of Rights passed by the 1st Congress of the United States. |
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