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The French and Indian War

June 19-July 11: The Albany Congress

Oct. 7: Proclamation of 1763

April 5: The Sugar Act
September 1: The Currency Act

March 22: The Stamp Act
March 24: The Quartering Act of 1765
May 29: Patrick Henry's "If this be treason, make the most of it!" speech
May 30: The Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions
Oct. 7-25: The Stamp Act Congress

March 18: The Declaratory Act

June 29: The Townshend Revenue Act

August 1: Boston Non-Importation Agreement

March 5: The Boston Massacre

June 9: The Gaspee Affair

May 10: The Tea Act Dec. 16: The Boston Tea Party

March 31: Boston Port Act, one of the " Intolerable Acts" May 20: Administration of Justice Act, one of the " Intolerable Acts" May 20: Massachusetts Government Act, one of the " Intolerable Acts" June 2: Quartering Act of 1774, one of the " Intolerable Acts" June 22: Quebec Act, one of the " Intolerable Acts" Sept. 5-Oct. 26: The First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia and issues Declaration and Resolves Oct. 10: Battle of Point Pleasant, Virginia (disputed as to whether it was a battle of the American Revolution or the culmination of Lord Dunmore's War) Oct. 20: The Association (prohibition of trade with Great Britain) Oct. 24: Galloway's Plan rejected

March 23: Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death" speech Apr. 18: The Rides of Paul Revere and William Dawes Apr. 19: Minutemen and redcoats clash at Lexington and Concord, "the shot heard 'round the world." May 10: Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys seize Fort Ticonderoga May 10: The Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia June 15: George Washington named Commander-in-Chief June 17: Battle of Bunker Hill: The British drive the Americans from Breed's Hill July 3: Washington assumes command of the Continental Army Nov. 13: Richard Montgomery's Continental Army forces occupy Montreal in Canada Dec. 11: Virginia and NC patriots rout Loyalist troops and burn Norfolk Dec. 22: Colonel Thomson with 1,500 rangers and militia capture Loyalists at Great Canebrake, SC Dec. 23-30: Snow Campaign, in SC, so called because patriots are impeded by 15" of snow Dec. 30-31: American forces under Benedict Arnold fail to seize Quebec

Jan. 1: Daniel Morgan is taken prisoner during his attempt to take Quebec City Jan. 15: Paine's Common Sense published Feb. 27: Revolutionaries drive the loyalists from Moore's Creek Bridge, North Carolina March 3: The Continental fleet captures New Providence Island in the Bahamas March 17: The British evacuate Boston; British Navy moves to Halifax, Canada June 8: Revolutionaries fail to take Three Rivers, Quebec June 12: The Virginia Declaration of Rights June 28: Sullivan's Island, SC, failed British naval attack June 29: The First Virginia Constitution June 28: American forces decisively defeat the British Navy at Fort Moultrie, South Carolina July 1: At the instigation of British agents, the Cherokee attack along the entire southern frontier July 1-4: Congress debates and revises the Declaration of Independence. See Chronology of the Declaration July 4: Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence; it's sent to the printer July 8: The Declaration of Independence is read publicly July 15: Lyndley's Fort, SC, Patriots fend off attack by Indians and Tories dressed as Indians Aug. 1: Ambushed by Cherokees, Patriots are saved by a mounted charge at Seneca, SC Aug. 2: Delegates begin to sign The Declaration of Independence Aug. 10: Tugaloo River, SC, Andrew Pickens defeats Cherokees Aug. 12: Andrew Pickens' detachment surrounded by 185 Cherokee Indians, forms a ring and fires outward. It is known as the "Ring Fight." Aug. 12: Colonel David Williamson and Andrew Pickens burn Tamassy, an Indian town Aug. 27: Redcoats defeat George Washington's army in the Battle of Long Island. Washington's army escapes at night. Sept. 15: The British occupy New York City Sept. 16: Generals George Washington, Nathanael Greene, and Israel Putnam triumphantly hold their ground at the Battle of Harlem Heights Sept. 19: Colonel David Williamson's Pennsylvania militia forces attacked by Cherokees at Coweecho River, NC Oct. 11: Benedict Arnold defeated at the Battle of Valcour Island (Lake Champlain), but delayed British advance Oct. 28: The Americans retreat from White Plains, New York. British casualties (~300) higher than American (~200). Nov. 16: The Hessians capture Fort Washington, NY Nov. 20: Lord Cornwallis captures Fort Lee from Nathanael Greene Dec. 26: Washington crosses the Delaware and captures Trenton from Hessians

Jan. 3: Washington victorious at Princeton Jan. 6-May 28: Washington winters in Morristown, NJ Apr. 27: Benedict Arnold's troops force a British retreat at Ridgefield, Connecticut. May 20: Treaty of DeWitt's Corner, SC: Cherokees lose most of their land east of the mountains June 14: Flag Resolution July 5: St. Clair surrenders Fort Ticonderoga to the British July 27: Lafayette arrives in Philadelphia Aug. 6: The Redcoats, with Iroquois support, force the patriots back at Oriskany, NY, but then have to evacuate Aug. 16: American Militia under General Stark victorious at the Battle of Bennington, VT (actually fought in Walloomsac, New York, several miles to the west) Aug. 23: British withdraw from Fort Stanwix, NY, upon hearing of Benedict Arnold's approach Aug. 25: British General Howe lands at Head of Elk, Maryland Sept. 11: The British win the Battle of Brandywine, Pennsylvania Sept. 16: Rainout at the Battle of the Clouds, Pennsylvania Sept. 19: Burgoyne checked by Americans under Gates at Freeman's Farm, NY. This is part of the "Battles of Saratoga." Sept. 21: Paoli Massacre, PA Sept. 26: British under Howe occupy Philadelphia Oct. 4: Americans driven off at the Battle of Germantown Oct. 7: Burgoyne loses second battle of Freeman's Farm, NY (at Bemis Heights). This is part of the "Battles of Saratoga." Oct. 17: Burgoyne surrenders to American General Gates at Saratoga, NY Oct. 22: Hessian attack on Fort Mercer, NJ repulsed Nov. 16: British capture Fort Mifflin, Pennsylvania Dec. 5-7: Americans repulse British at Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania Dec. 19: Washington's army retires to winter quarters at Valley Forge

Feb. 6: The United States and France sign the French Alliance March 7: British General William Howe replaced by Henry Clinton May 20: Battle of Barren Hill, Pennsylvania. Lafayette with 500 men and about 50 Oneida Indians successfully evade British onslaught June 18: British abandon Philadelphia and return to New York June 19: Washington's army leaves Valley Forge June 28: The Battle of Monmouth Court House ends in a draw July 4: George Rogers Clark captures Kaskaskia, a French village south of St. Louis Aug. 8: French and American forces besiege Newport, RI Sept. 28: The Tappan Massacre ("No Flint" Grey kills 30 Americans by bayonet) Dec. 29: The redcoats occupy Savannah

Feb. 3: Major General Moultrie defeats British detachment at Port Royal Island, SC Feb. 14: Patriots Andrew Pickens and Elijah Clarke beat Loyalists at Kettle Creek, GA Feb. 23-24: American George Rogers Clark captures Vincennes (in what is now Indiana) on the Wabash in the Western campaign March 3: British Lt. Colonel Jacques Marcus Prévost defeats Americans under General John Ashe at Brier Creek, GA May 11-13: Major General Augustin Prévost (brother of Jacques, see above) breaks his siege when American forces under Major General Lincoln approach June 20: Stono River, SC, Major General Lincoln inflicts extensive British casualties in indecisive battle June 21: Spain declares war on Great Britain July 8: Fairfield, CT, burned by British July 11: Norwalk, CT, burned by British July 15-16: American "Mad" Anthony Wayne captures Stony Point, NY Aug. 19: Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee attacks Paulus Hook, NJ Aug. 29: Newtown, NY, after two massacres, American forces burn Indian villages Sept. 23: John Paul Jones, aboard the Bonhomme Richard, captures British man-of-war Serapis near English coast
Oct. 9: American attempt to recapture Savannah, GA fails Nov.-June 23, 1780: Washington's 2nd winter at Morristown, NJ (the harshest winter of the 18th century)

May 12: British capture Charleston, SC May 29: British crush Americans at Waxhaw Creek, SC June 20: Patriots rout Tories at Ramseur's Mill, NC July 11: French troops arrive at Newport, RI, to aid the American cause Aug. 6: Patriots defeat Tories at Hanging Rock, SC Aug. 16: British rout Americans at Camden, SC Sept. 23: John André arrested, leading to the exposure of Benedict Arnold's plans to cede West Point to the British Oct. 7: King's Mountain, SC: battle lasts 65 minutes. American troops led by Isaac Shelby and John Sevier defeat Major Patrick Ferguson and one third of General Cornwallis's army Oct. 14: Washington names Nathanael Greene commander of the Southern Army

Jan. 1: Mutiny of unpaid Pennsylvania soldiers Jan. 17: American General Daniel Morgan overwhelmingly defeats British Colonel Tarleton at Cowpens, SC Feb. 1: The Battle of Cowan's Ford, Huntersville, NC March 2: Articles of Confederation adopted March 15: British win costly victory at Guilford Courthouse, NC April 25: Greene defeated at Hobkirk's Hill, SC May 15: British Major Andrew Maxwell cedes Fort Granby, SC to Lieutenant Colonel Henry Lee June 6: Americans recapture Augusta, GA June 18: British hold off Americans at Ninety Six, SC July 6: "Mad" Anthony Wayne repulsed at Green Springs Farm, VA Sept. 8: Greene defeated at Eutaw Springs, SC Sept. 15: French fleet drives British naval force from Chesapeake Bay Oct. 19: Cornwallis surrounded on land and sea by Americans and French and surrenders at Yorktown, VA

March 8: Gnadenhutten massacre, a.k.a. the Moravian massacre.
March 20: Lord North resigns as British prime minister July 11: British evacuate Savannah, GA Nov. 30: British and Americans sign preliminary Articles of Peace Dec. 14: British leave Charleston, SC

April 19: Congress ratifies preliminary peace treaty Sept. 3: The United States and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Paris Nov. 25: British troops leave New York City Dec. 23: Washington resigns as Commander

Sept. 17: U.S. Constitution signed

June 21: U.S. Constitution adopted, when New Hampshire ratifies it

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The French and Indian War June 19-July 11: The Albany Congress Oct. 7: Proclamation of 1763 April 5: The Sugar Act September 1: The Currency Act March 22: The Stamp Act March 24: The Quartering Act of 1765 May 29: Patrick Henry's "If this be treason, make the most of it!"

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9 Things you may not Know about the Declaration of Independence 

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9 Things you may not Know about the Declaration of Independence 

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1. The Declaration of Independence wasn't signed on July 4, 1776.
On July 1, 1776, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, and on the following day 12 of the 13 colonies voted in favor of Richard Henry Lee's motion for independence. The delegates then spent the next two days debating and revising the language of a statement drafted by Thomas Jefferson. On July 4, Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence, and as a result the date is celebrated as Independence Day. Nearly a month would go by, however, before the actual signing of the document took place. First, New York's delegates didn't officially give their support until July 9 because their home assembly hadn't yet authorized them to vote in favor of independence. Next, it took two weeks for the Declaration to be "engrossed"-written on parchment in a clear hand. Most of the delegates signed on August 2, but several-Elbridge Gerry, Oliver Wolcott, Lewis Morris, Thomas McKean and Matthew Thornton-signed on a later date. (Two others, John Dickinson and Robert R. Livingston, never signed at all.) The signed parchment copy now resides at the National Archives in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom, alongside the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

2. More than one copy exists.
After the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, the "Committee of Five"-Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston-was charged with overseeing the reproduction of the approved text. This was completed at the shop of Philadelphia printer John Dunlap. On July 5, Dunlap's copies were dispatched across the 13 colonies to newspapers, local officials and the commanders of the Continental troops. These rare documents, known as "Dunlap broadsides," predate the engrossed version signed by the delegates. Of the hundreds thought to have been printed on the night of July 4, only 26 copies survive. Most are held in museum and library collections, but three are privately owned.

3. When news of the Declaration of Independence reached New York City, it started a riot.
By July 9, 1776, a copy of the Declaration of Independence had reached New York City. With hundreds of British naval ships occupying New York Harbor, revolutionary spirit and military tensions were running high. George Washington, commander of the Continental forces in New York, read the document aloud in front of City Hall. A raucous crowd cheered the inspiring words, and later that day tore down a nearby statue of George III. The statue was subsequently melted down and shaped into more than 42,000 musket balls for the fledgling American army.

4. Eight of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were born in Britain.
While the majority of the members of the Second Continental Congress were native-born Americans, eight of the men voting for independence from Britain were born there. Gwinnett Button and Robert Morris were born in England, Francis Lewis was born in Wales, James Wilson and John Witherspoon were born in Scotland, George Taylor and Matthew Thornton were born in Ireland and James Smith hailed from Northern Ireland.

5. One signer later recanted.
Richard Stockton, a lawyer from Princeton, New Jersey, became the only signer of the Declaration of Independence to recant his support of the revolution. On November 30, 1776, the hapless delegate was captured by the British and thrown in jail. After months of harsh treatment and meager rations, Stockton repudiated his signature on the Declaration of Independence and swore his allegiance to King George III. A broken man when he regained his freedom, he took a new oath of loyalty to the state of New Jersey in December 1777.

6. There was a 44-year age difference between the youngest and oldest signers.
The oldest signer was Benjamin Franklin, 70 years old when he scrawled his name on the parchment. The youngest was Edward Rutledge, a lawyer from South Carolina who was only 26 at the time. Rutledge narrowly beat out fellow South Carolinian Thomas Lynch Jr., just four months his senior, for the title.

7. Two additional copies have been found in the last 25 years.
In 1989, a Philadelphia man found an original Dunlap Broadside hidden in the back of a picture frame he bought at a flea market for $4. One of the few surviving copies from the official first printing of the Declaration, it was in excellent condition and sold for $8.1 million in 2000. A 26th known Dunlap broadside emerged at the British National Archives in 2009, hidden for centuries in a box of papers captured from American colonists during the Revolutionary War. One of three Dunlap broadsides at the National Archives, the copy remains there to this day.

8. The Declaration of Independence spent World War II in Fort Knox.
On December 23, 1941, just over two weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the signed Declaration, together with the Constitution, was removed from public display and prepared for evacuation out of Washington, D.C. Under the supervision of armed guards, the founding document was packed in a specially designed container, latched with padlocks, sealed with lead and placed in a larger box. All told, 150 pounds of protective gear surrounded the parchment. On December 26 and 27, accompanied by Secret Service agents, it traveled by train to Louisville, Kentucky, where a cavalry troop of the 13th Armored Division escorted it to Fort Knox. The Declaration was returned to Washington, D.C., in 1944.

9. There is something written on the back of the Declaration of Independence.
In the movie "National Treasure," Nicholas Cage's character claims that the back of the Declaration contains a treasure map with encrypted instructions from the founding fathers, written in invisible ink. Unfortunately, this is not the case. There is, however, a simpler message, written upside-down across the bottom of the signed document: "Original Declaration of Independence dated 4th July 1776." No one knows who exactly wrote this or when, but during the Revolutionary War years the parchment was frequently rolled up for transport. It's thought that the text was added as a label.

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9 Things You May Not Know About the Declaration of Independence

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1. The Declaration of Independence wasn't signed on July 4, 1776. On July 1, 1776, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, and on the following day 12 of the 13 colonies voted in favor of Richard Henry Lee's motion for independence.

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"A Brief History of America's Independence: Part 2" (Revolutionary War) - 321Learning

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"A Brief History of America's Independence: Part 1" (Revolutionary War) - 321Learning

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Interactive Map on the American Revolution 

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Interactive Map on the American Revolution 

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Interactive Map of the American Revolution - Google My Maps

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In this documentary, in the form of an interactive map, you can zoom in on the 195 battles of the American Revolution. You can zoom in on the actual battle fields, read background information about each battle, and obtain travel directions and surrounding points of interest information.

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The American Revolution - (Important People)

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Biography of Baron von Steuben, The Army of the American Revolution and its Organizer: Rudolf Cronau's Biography of Baron von Steuben (Heritage Classic)

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click on the photo above for a full screen view AMERICANREVOLUTION.ORG

Battle of Bunkers Hill
by John Trumbull

click on the artists name for a biography
click here for a Key to figures in the picture
Perhaps the first of the Revolutionary War masterpieces to be finished, this work was painted in the studio of Benjamin West in London and finished in March, 1786. To explain it in Trumbulls own words: ". . . This painting represents the moment when (the Americans having expended their ammunition) the British troops became completely successful and masters of the field. At this last moment of the action, Gen. Warren was killed by a musket ball through the head. The principal group represents him expiring, a soldier on his knees supports him, and with one hand wards off the bayonet of a British grenadier, . . . Col. Small . . . is represented seizing the musket of the grenadier, to prevent the fatal hlow, . . . Near this side of the painting is seen General Putnam, reluctantly ordering the retreat of these brave men; ... Behind Col. Small is seen Major Pitcairn, of the British marines , mortally wounded, and falling in the arms of his son, . . . Under the heel of Col. Small lies the dead body of Col. Abercrombie. Gen. Howe, who commanded the British troops, and Gen. Clinton, . . . are seen behind the principal group." Where Trumbull obtained the likeness of General Warren is not known. It is probable that he copied the portrait by Copley. The portrait of General Putnam resembles Trumbull's pencil sketch of him. The portraits of the British officers, Howe, Clinton, and Small, were painted in London between 1784 1786 either from life or from portraits by others. The portrait of Major John Pitcairn was painted from "his son Dr. Pitcairn of London" in 1786. The portrait of Lieutenant William Pitcairn was probably his brother Thomas, as William died in 1779 at age twenty-four. A sketch in sepia and wash, five and one-half by eight and one-eighth inches, endorsed "J. Trumbull. Death of Gen. Warren at Bunker's Hill June 17, 1775. Painted 1785 & 6," and a pencil sketch and a sketch in detail in sepia wash and pencil, survived as preliminary studies made in West's studio. As one eminent art historian has said: "His picture [Battle of Bunker's Hill] is the more remarkable, therefore, as a product of his imaginative genius working upon carefully collated facts gathered from various sources, from persons actually engaged in the fight, and from sketches made on the spot at a later day. That this picture has the character of an impression received by an eye witness is a triumph of art, and the historical accuracy of the work is matched by the technical skill with which it is executed. That Trumbull should have produced this masterpiece at the beginning of his career as an artist is only another evidence, often remarked of greater masters, that genius seems to require no preparation, that it is born with its powers already matured."

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click on the photo above for a full screen view AMERICANREVOLUTION.ORG Battle of Bunkers Hill by John Trumbull click on the artists name for a biography click here for a Key to figures in the picture Perhaps the first of the Revolutionary War masterpieces to be finished, this work was painted in the studio of Benjamin West in London and finished in March, 1786.

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American Revolution in 9 Minutes - Manny Man Does History

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Contents

1. Why Did the Boston Tea Party Happen?

2. Boston Massacre Enrages Colonists

3. Tea Act Imposed

4. Sons of Liberty

5. What Happened at the Boston Tea Party?

6. Boston Tea Party Aftermath

7. Who Organized the Boston Tea Party?

8. Coercive Acts

9. Second Boston Tea Party

10. First Continental Congress Is Convened

The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing "taxation without representation," dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. The event was the first major act of defiance to British rule over the colonists. It showed Great Britain that Americans wouldn't take taxation and tyranny sitting down, and rallied American patriots across the 13 colonies to fight for independence.

Why Did the Boston Tea Party Happen?

In the 1760s, Britain was deep in debt, so British Parliament imposed a series of taxes on American colonists to help pay those debts.

The Stamp Act of 1765 taxed colonists on virtually every piece of printed paper they used, from playing cards and business licenses to newspapers and legal documents. The Townshend Acts of 1767 went a step further, taxing essentials such as paint, paper, glass, lead and tea.

The British government felt the taxes were fair since much of its debt was earned fighting wars on the colonists' behalf. The colonists, however, disagreed. They were furious at being taxed without having any representation in Parliament, and felt it was wrong for Britain to impose taxes on them to gain revenue.
READ MORE: 7 Events That Enraged Colonists and Led to the American Revolution
Boston Massacre Enrages Colonists

On March 5, 1770, a street brawl happened in Boston between American colonists and British soldiers.

Later known as the Boston Massacre, the fight began after an unruly group of colonists-frustrated with the presence of British soldiers in their streets- flung snowballs, ice and oyster shells at a British sentinel guarding the Boston Customs House.

Reinforcements arrived and opened fire on the mob, killing five colonists and wounding six. The Boston Massacre and its fallout further incited the colonists' rage towards Britain.

Tea Act Imposed

Britain eventually repealed the taxes it had imposed on the colonists except the tea tax. It wasn't about to give up tax revenue on the nearly 1.2 million pounds of tea the colonists drank each year.

In protest, the colonists boycotted tea sold by British East India Company and smuggled in Dutch tea, leaving British East India Company with millions of pounds of surplus tea and facing bankruptcy.

In May 1773, British Parliament passed the Tea Act which allowed British East India Company to sell tea to the colonies duty-free and much cheaper than other tea companies - but still tax the tea when it reached colonial ports.

Tea smuggling in the colonies increased, although the cost of the smuggled tea soon surpassed that of tea from British East India Company with the added tea tax.

Still, with the help of prominent tea smugglers such as John Hancock and Samuel Adams -who protested taxation without representation but also wanted to protect their tea smuggling operations-colonists continued to rail against the tea tax and Britain's control over their interests.

Sons of Liberty

The Sons of Liberty were a group of colonial merchants and tradesmen founded to protest the Stamp Act and other forms of taxation. The group of revolutionists included prominent patriots such as Benedict Arnold, Patrick Henry and Paul Revere, as well as Adams and Hancock.

Led by Adams, the Sons of Liberty held meetings rallying against British Parliament and protested the Griffin's Wharf arrival of Dartmouth, a British East India Company ship carrying tea. By December 16, 1773, Dartmouth had been joined by her sister ships, Beaver and Eleanor; all three ships loaded with tea from China.

That morning, as thousands of colonists convened at the wharf and its surrounding streets, a meeting was held at the Old South Meeting House where a large group of colonists voted to refuse to pay taxes on the tea or allow the tea to be unloaded, stored, sold or used. (Ironically, the ships were built in America and owned by Americans.)

Governor Thomas Hutchison refused to allow the ships to return to Britain and ordered the tea tariff be paid and the tea unloaded. The colonists refused, and Hutchison never offered a satisfactory compromise.
READ MORE: Who Were the Sons of Liberty?
What Happened at the Boston Tea Party?

That night, a large group of men - many reportedly members of the Sons of Liberty - disguised themselves in Native American garb, boarded the docked ships and threw 342 chests of tea into the water.

Said participant George Hewes, "We then were ordered by our commander to open the hatches and take out all the chests of tea and throw them overboard, and we immediately proceeded to execute his orders, first cutting and splitting the chests with our tomahawks, so as thoroughly to expose them to the effects of the water."

Hewes also noted that "We were surrounded by British armed ships, but no attempt was made to resist us."

Did you know? It took nearly three hours for more than 100 colonists to empty the tea into Boston Harbor. The chests held more than 90,000 lbs. (45 tons) of tea, which would cost nearly $1,000,000 dollars today.

Boston Tea Party Aftermath

While some important colonist leaders such as John Adams were thrilled to learn Boston Harbor was covered in tea leaves, others were not.

In June of 1774, George Washington wrote: "the cause of Boston...ever will be considered as the cause of America." But his personal views of the event were far different. He voiced strong disapproval of "their conduct in destroying the Tea" and claimed Bostonians "were mad." Washington, like many other elites, held private property to be sacrosanct.

Benjamin Franklin insisted the British East India Company be reimbursed for the lost tea and even offered to pay for it himself.

No one was hurt, and aside from the destruction of the tea and a padlock, no property was damaged or looted during the Boston Tea Party. The participants reportedly swept the ships' decks clean before they left.

Who Organized the Boston Tea Party?

Though led by Samuel Adams and his Sons of Liberty and organized by John Hancock, the names of many of those involved in the Boston Tea Party remain unknown. Thanks to their Native American costumes, only one of the tea party culprits, Francis Akeley, was arrested and imprisoned.

Even after American independence, participants refused to reveal their identities, fearing they could still face civil and criminal charges as well as condemnation from elites for the destruction of private property. Most participants in the Boston Tea Party were under the age of forty and sixteen of them were teenagers.

Coercive Acts

But despite the lack of violence, the Boston Tea Party didn't go unanswered by King George III and British Parliament.

In retribution, they passed the Coercive Acts (later known as the Intolerable Acts) which:

closed Boston Harbor until the tea lost in the Boston Tea Party was paid for

ended the Massachusetts Constitution and ended free elections of town officials

moved judicial authority to Britain and British judges, basically creating martial law in Massachusetts

required colonists to quarter British troops on demand

extended freedom of worship to French-Canadian Catholics under British rule, which angered the mostly Protestant colonists

Britain hoped the Coercive Acts would squelch rebellion in New England and keep the remaining colonies from uniting, but the opposite happened: All the colonies viewed the punitive laws as further evidence of Britain's tyranny and rallied to Massachusetts' aid, sending supplies and plotting further resistance.

Second Boston Tea Party

A second Boston Tea Party took place in March 1774, when around 60 Bostonians boarded the ship Fortune and dumped nearly 30 chests of tea into the harbor.

The event didn't earn nearly as much notoriety as the first Boston Tea Party, but it did encourage other tea-dumping demonstrations in Maryland, New York and South Carolina.

First Continental Congress Is Convened

Many colonists felt Britain's Coercive Acts went too far. On September 5, 1774, elected delegates from all 13 American colonies except Georgia met in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress to figure out how to resist British oppression.

The delegates were divided on how to move forward but the Boston Tea Party had united them in their fervor to gain independence. By the time they adjourned in October 1774, they'd written The Declaration and Resolves which:

censured Britain for passing the Coercive Acts and called for their repeal

established a boycott of British goods

declared the colonies had the right to govern independently

rallied colonists to form and train a colonial militia

Britain didn't capitulate and within months, the "shot heard round the world," rang out in Concord, Massachusetts, sparking the start of the American Revolutionary War.

Sources

A Tea Party Timeline: 1773-1775. Old South Meeting House.
The Boston Tea Party. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
The Boston Tea Party. Massachusetts Historical Society.
The Boston Tea Party, 1773. EyewitnesstoHistory.com.
The Intolerable Acts. U.S.History.org.

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The Boston Tea Party was a political protest staged on December 16, 1773 at Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated at Britain for imposing "taxation without representation," dumped 342 chests of British tea into the harbor. The event was the first major act of defiance to British rule over the colonists.

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Causes of the Revolutionary War

For more than a decade before the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, tensions had been building between colonists and the British authorities.

The French and Indian War, or Seven Years' War (1756-1763), brought new territories under the power of the crown, but the expensive conflict lead to new and unpopular taxes. Attempts by the British government to raise revenue by taxing the colonies (notably the Stamp Act of 1765, the Townshend Acts of 1767 and the Tea Act of 1773) met with heated protest among many colonists, who resented their lack of representation in Parliament and demanded the same rights as other British subjects.

Colonial resistance led to violence in 1770, when British soldiers opened fire on a mob of colonists, killing five men in what was known as the Boston Massacre. After December 1773, when a band of Bostonians altered their appearance to hide their identity boarded British ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor during the Boston Tea Party, an outraged Parliament passed a series of measures (known as the Intolerable, or Coercive Acts) designed to reassert imperial authority in Massachusetts.

Did you know? Now most famous as a traitor to the American cause, General Benedict Arnold began the Revolutionary War as one of its earliest heroes, helping lead rebel forces in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775.

In response, a group of colonial delegates (including George Washington of Virginia, John and Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, Patrick Henry of Virginia and John Jay of New York) met in Philadelphia in September 1774 to give voice to their grievances against the British crown. This First Continental Congress did not go so far as to demand independence from Britain, but it denounced taxation without representation, as well as the maintenance of the British army in the colonies without their consent. It issued a declaration of the rights due every citizen, including life, liberty, property, assembly and trial by jury. The Continental Congress voted to meet again in May 1775 to consider further action, but by that time violence had already broken out.

On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord, Massachusetts in order to seize an arms cache. Paul Revere and other riders sounded the alarm, and colonial militiamen began mobilizing to intercept the Redcoats. On April 19, local militiamen clashed with British soldiers in the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, marking the "shot heard round the world" that signified the start of the Revolutionary War.

HISTORY Vault: The Revolution

Declaring Independence (1775-76)

When the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia, delegates-including new additions Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson-voted to form a Continental Army, with Washington as its commander in chief. On June 17, in the Revolution's first major battle, colonial forces inflicted heavy casualties on the British regiment of General William Howe at Breed's Hill in Boston. The engagement, known as the Battle of Bunker Hill, ended in British victory, but lent encouragement to the revolutionary cause.

Throughout that fall and winter, Washington's forces struggled to keep the British contained in Boston, but artillery captured at Fort Ticonderoga in New York helped shift the balance of that struggle in late winter. The British evacuated the city in March 1776, with Howe and his men retreating to Canada to prepare a major invasion of New York.

By June 1776, with the Revolutionary War in full swing, a growing majority of the colonists had come to favor independence from Britain. On July 4, the Continental Congress voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence, drafted by a five-man committee including Franklin and John Adams but written mainly by Jefferson. That same month, determined to crush the rebellion, the British government sent a large fleet, along with more than 34,000 troops to New York. In August, Howe's Redcoats routed the Continental Army on Long Island; Washington was forced to evacuate his troops from New York City by September. Pushed across the Delaware River, Washington fought back with a surprise attack in Trenton, New Jersey, on Christmas night and won another victory at Princeton to revive the rebels' flagging hopes before making winter quarters at Morristown.

Saratoga: Revolutionary War Turning Point (1777-78)

British strategy in 1777 involved two main prongs of attack aimed at separating New England (where the rebellion enjoyed the most popular support) from the other colonies. To that end, General John Burgoyne's army marched south from Canada toward a planned meeting with Howe's forces on the Hudson River. Burgoyne's men dealt a devastating loss to the Americans in July by retaking Fort Ticonderoga, while Howe decided to move his troops southward from New York to confront Washington's army near the Chesapeake Bay. The British defeated the Americans at Brandywine Creek, Pennsylvania, on September 11 and entered Philadelphia on September 25. Washington rebounded to strike Germantown in early October before withdrawing to winter quarters near Valley Forge.

Howe's move had left Burgoyne's army exposed near Saratoga, New York, and the British suffered the consequences of this on September 19, when an American force under General Horatio Gates defeated them at Freeman's Farm in the first Battle of Saratoga. After suffering another defeat on October 7 at Bemis Heights (the Second Battle of Saratoga), Burgoyne surrendered his remaining forces on October 17. The American victory Saratoga would prove to be a turning point of the American Revolution, as it prompted France (which had been secretly aiding the rebels since 1776) to enter the war openly on the American side, though it would not formally declare war on Great Britain until June 1778. The American Revolution, which had begun as a civil conflict between Britain and its colonies, had become a world war.

Stalemate in the North, Battle in the South (1778-81)

During the long, hard winter at Valley Forge, Washington's troops benefited from the training and discipline of the Prussian military officer Baron Friedrich von Steuben (sent by the French) and the leadership of the French aristocrat Marquis de Lafayette. On June 28, 1778, as British forces under Sir Henry Clinton (who had replaced Howe as supreme commander) attempted to withdraw from Philadelphia to New York, Washington's army attacked them near Monmouth, New Jersey. The battle effectively ended in a draw, as the Americans held their ground, but Clinton was able to get his army and supplies safely to New York. On July 8, a French fleet commanded by the Comte d'Estaing arrived off the Atlantic coast, ready to do battle with the British. A joint attack on the British at Newport, Rhode Island, in late July failed, and for the most part the war settled into a stalemate phase in the North.

The Americans suffered a number of setbacks from 1779 to 1781, including the defection of General Benedict Arnold to the British and the first serious mutinies within the Continental Army. In the South, the British occupied Georgia by early 1779 and captured Charleston, South Carolina in May 1780. British forces under Lord Charles Cornwallis then began an offensive in the region, crushing Gates' American troops at Camden in mid-August, though the Americans scored a victory over Loyalist forces at King's Mountain in early October. Nathanael Green replaced Gates as the American commander in the South that December. Under Green's command, General Daniel Morgan scored a victory against a British force led by Colonel Banastre Tarleton at Cowpens, South Carolina, on January 17, 1781.

Revolutionary War Draws to a Close (1781-83)

By the fall of 1781, Greene's American forces had managed to force Cornwallis and his men to withdraw to Virginia's Yorktown peninsula, near where the York River empties into Chesapeake Bay. Supported by a French army commanded by General Jean Baptiste de Rochambeau, Washington moved against Yorktown with a total of around 14,000 soldiers, while a fleet of 36 French warships offshore prevented British reinforcement or evacuation. Trapped and overpowered, Cornwallis was forced to surrender his entire army on October 19. Claiming illness, the British general sent his deputy, Charles O'Hara, to surrender; after O'Hara approached Rochambeau to surrender his sword (the Frenchman deferred to Washington), Washington gave the nod to his own deputy, Benjamin Lincoln, who accepted it.

Though the movement for American independence effectively triumphed at the Battle of Yorktown, contemporary observers did not see that as the decisive victory yet. British forces remained stationed around Charleston, and the powerful main army still resided in New York. Though neither side would take decisive action over the better part of the next two years, the British removal of their troops from Charleston and Savannah in late 1782 finally pointed to the end of the conflict. British and American negotiators in Paris signed preliminary peace terms in Paris late that November, and on September 3, 1783, Great Britain formally recognized the independence of the United States in the Treaty of Paris. At the same time, Britain signed separate peace treaties with France and Spain (which had entered the conflict in 1779), bringing the American Revolution to a close after eight long years.

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Revolutionary War - Timeline, Facts & Battles | HISTORY

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The Revolutionary War (1775-83), also known as the American Revolution, arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain's 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown.