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The American Revolution was the war in which Great Britain’s 13 American colonies won their independence. The colonies became a new country, the United States. The revolution…

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1. The Stamp Act (March 1765)

To recoup some of the massive debt left over from the war with France, Parliament passed laws such as the Stamp Act, which for the first time taxed a wide range of transactions in the colonies.

"Up until then, each colony had its own government which decided which taxes they would have, and collected them," explains Willard Sterne Randall, a professor emeritus of history at Champlain College and author of numerous works on early American history, including Unshackling America: How the War of 1812 Truly Ended the American Revolution."They felt that they'd spent a lot of blood and treasure to protect the colonists from the Indians, and so they should pay their share."

The colonists didn't see it that way. They resented not only having to buy goods from the British but pay tax on them as well. "The tax never got collected, because there were riots all over the place," Randall says. Ultimately, Benjamin Franklin convinced the British to rescind it, but that only made things worse. "That made the Americans think they could push back against anything the British wanted," Randall says.

2. The Townshend Acts (June-July 1767)

Parliament again tried to assert its authority by passing legislation to tax goods that the Americans imported from Great Britain. The Crown established a board of customs commissioners to stop smuggling and corruption among local officials in the colonies, who were often in on the illicit trade.

Americans struck back by organizing a boycott of the British goods that were subject to taxation and began harassing the British customs commissioners. In an effort to quell the resistance, the British sent troops to occupy Boston, which only deepened the ill feeling.

3. The Boston Massacre (March 1770)

Simmering tensions between the British occupiers and Boston residents boiled over one late afternoon when a disagreement between an apprentice wigmaker and a British soldier led to a crowd of 200 colonists surrounding seven British troops. When the Americans began taunting the British and throwing things at them, the soldiers apparently lost their cool and began firing into the crowd.

As the smoke cleared, three men-including an African American sailor named Crispus Attucks-were dead, and two others were mortally wounded. The massacre became a useful propaganda tool for the colonists, especially after Paul Revere distributed an engraving that misleadingly depicted the British as the aggressors.

4. The Boston Tea Party (December 1773)

The British eventually withdrew their forces from Boston and repealed much of the onerous Townshend legislation. But they left in place the tax on tea, and in 1773 enacted a new law, the Tea Act, to prop up the financially struggling British East India Company. The act gave the company extended favorable treatment under tax regulations to sell tea at a price that undercut the American merchants who imported from Dutch traders.

That didn't sit well with Americans. "They didn't want the British telling them that they had to buy their tea, but it wasn't just about that," Randall explains. "The Americans wanted to be able to trade with any country they wanted."

The Sons of Liberty, a radical group, decided to confront the British head-on. Thinly disguised as Mohawks, they boarded three ships in Boston harbor and destroyed more than 92,000 pounds of British tea by dumping it into the harbor. To make the point that they were rebels rather than vandals, they avoided harming any of the crew or damaging the ships themselves, and the next day even replaced a padlock that had been broken.

Nevertheless, the act of defiance "really ticked off the British government," Randall explains. "Many of the East India Company's shareholders were members of Parliament. They each had paid 1,000 pounds sterling-that would probably be about a million dollars now-for a share of the company, to get a piece of the action from all this tea that they were going to force down the colonists' throats. So when these bottom-of-the-rung people in Boston destroyed their tea, that was a serious thing to them."

5. The Coercive Acts (March-June 1774)

In response to the Boston Tea Party, the British government decided that it had to tame the rebellious colonists in Massachusetts. In the spring of 1774, Parliament passed a series of laws, the Coercive Acts, which closed Boston Harbor until restitution was paid for the destroyed tea, replaced the colony's elected council with one appointed by the British, gave sweeping powers to the British military governor General Thomas Gage, and forbade town meetings without approval.

Yet another provision protected British colonial officials who were charged with capital offenses from being tried in Massachusetts, instead requiring that they be sent to another colony or back to Great Britain for trial.

But perhaps the most provocative provision was the Quartering Act, which allowed British military officials to demand accommodations for their troops in unoccupied houses and buildings in towns, rather than having to stay out in the countryside. While it didn't force the colonists to board troops in their own homes, they had to pay for the expense of housing and feeding the soldiers. The quartering of troops eventually became one of the grievances cited in the Declaration of Independence.

6. Lexington and Concord (April 1775)

British General Thomas Gage led a force of British soldiers from Boston to Lexington, where he planned to capture colonial radical leaders Sam Adams and John Hancock, and then head to Concord and seize their gunpowder. But American spies got wind of the plan, and with the help of riders such as Paul Revere, word spread to be ready for the British.

On the Lexington Common, the British force was confronted by 77 American militiamen, and they began shooting at each other. Seven Americans died, but other militiamen managed to stop the British at Concord and continued to harass them on their retreat back to Boston.

The British lost 73 dead, with another 174 wounded and 26 missing in action. The bloody encounter proved to the British that the colonists were fearsome foes who had to be taken seriously. It was the start of America's war of independence.

7. British attacks on coastal towns (October 1775-January 1776)

Though the Revolutionary War's hostilities started with Lexington and Concord, Randall says that at the start, it was unclear whether the southern colonies, whose interests didn't necessarily align with the northern colonies, would be all in for a war of independence.

"The southerners were totally dependent upon the English to buy their crops, and they didn't trust the Yankees," he explains. "And in New England, the Puritans thought the southerners were lazy."

But that was before the brutal British naval bombardments and burning of the coastal towns of Falmouth, Massachusetts and Norfolk, Virginia helped to unify the colonies. In Falmouth, where townspeople had to grab their possessions and flee for their lives, northerners had to face up to "the fear that the British would do whatever they wanted to them," Randall says.

As historian Holger Hoock has written, the burning of Falmouth shocked General George Washington, who denounced it as "exceeding in barbarity & cruelty every hostile act practiced among civilized nations."

Similarly, in Norfolk, the horror of the town's wooden buildings going up in flames after a seven-hour naval bombardment shocked the southerners, who also knew that the British were offering African Americans their freedom if they took up arms on the loyalist side. "Norfolk stirred up fears of a slave insurrection in the South," Randall says.

Leaders of the rebellion seized the burnings of the two ports to make the argument that the colonists needed to band together for survival against a ruthless enemy and embrace the need for independence. This spirit ultimately would lead to their victory.

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7 Events That Enraged Colonists and Led to the American Revolution

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Colonists didn't just take up arms against the British out of the blue. A series of events escalated tensions that culminated in America's war for independence.

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History: American Revolutionary War Timeline

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Learn about the events of the American Revolutionary War Timeline in US history.

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Learn about the Causes of the American Revolution including the French and Indian War, taxes, the Intolerable Acts, Boston Massacre, and more.

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Independence Declared: 1775 to 1777

War Breaks Out

April 19, 1775
The first shots of the Revolutionary War are fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. The news of the bloodshed rockets along the eastern seaboard, and thousands of volunteers converge-called "Minute Men"-on Cambridge, Mass. These are the beginnings of the Continental Army.

Learn more about Minute Man National Historical Park

Britain Forms an Alliance with Patriot Slaves

November 1775
The British governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, issues a proclamation offering freedom to any slaves of rebellious Americans who are able to enter British lines. Throughout the course of the war, tens of thousands of African Americans will seek their freedom by supporting the British. A smaller number will fight on the patriot (pro-independence) side, despite policies that discourage their enlistment

Battle of Bunker Hill: Americans Hold Their Own

June 17, 1775
In the first major action of the war, inexperienced colonial soldiers hold off hardened British veterans for more than two hours at Breed's Hill. Although eventually forced to abandon their position, including the high ground of Bunker Hill overlooking Boston, the patriots show that they are not intimidated by the long lines of red-coated infantrymen. Of the 2,200 British seeing action, more than 1,000 end up dead or wounded.

Learn more about Boston National Historical Park

Moores Creek: Loyalists Defeated

February 27, 1776
A force of loyalists (Americans who want to remain British subjects), most of them of Scots descent, is defeated by a patriot army at the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge. This setback will largely quiet loyalist activity in the Carolinas for three years.

Learn more about Moores Creek National Battlefield

South Carolinians Repel British Attempt to Take Charleston

June 28, 1776
A British invasion force mounts an all-day attack on a patriot force on Sullivan's Island. The invaders are unable to land their troops on the island, and the tricky waters of Charleston Harbor frustrate the British navy. The fleet retires in defeat, and South Carolina will remain untouched by the enemy for three more years.

Learn more about Fort Moultrie National Monument

America Declares Its Independence

July 1776
The Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress. Following a decade of agitation over taxes and a year of war, representatives make the break with Britain. King George III isn't willing to let his subjects go without a fight, and loyalist sentiment remains strong in many areas. Americans' primary allegiance is to their states; nationalism will grow slowly.

Learn more about Independence National Historical Park

George Washington Crosses the Delaware River

December 1776 to January 1777
In a bold move, Washington moves his troops into New Jersey on Christmas night. The patriots then surprise a force of German troops fighting for Britain at Trenton on December 26. They achieve a similar victory over British troops at Princeton on January 3, reviving hopes that the war just might be winnable. The army then encamps for the winter at Morristown, New Jersey.

Learn more about Morristown National Historical Park

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Timeline of the Revolution - American Revolution (U.S. National Park Service)

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April 19, 1775 The first shots of the Revolutionary War are fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. The news of the bloodshed rockets along the eastern seaboard, and thousands of volunteers converge-called "Minute Men"-on Cambridge, Mass. These are the beginnings of the Continental Army.

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WGBH Timeline: Causes of the American Revolution

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Learn It! New Hampshire and the American Revolution | Moose on the Loose

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How did America go from being part of the British Empire to being its own country? For many, many years, Americans were proud to live in a place that was part of Great Britain. But then, starting in the 1760s, Americans began to grow angry with the way the British ruled them. The Americans wanted to govern themselves, but the British wanted to keep making the laws that the Americans had to live by.

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Find It! - Unit 5 Resource Bank | Moose on the Loose

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All the resources that appear in this unit are gathered here for you-the photographs, maps, objects, audiovisuals, documents, videos, biographies, and vocabulary words.

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Boston Tea Party

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Declaration of Independence

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Image 1 of Thomas Jefferson, June 1776, Rough Draft of the Declaration of Independence

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The Library of Congress is providing access to The Thomas Jefferson Papers at the Library of Congress for noncommercial, educational and research purposes. While the Library is not aware of any copyrights or other rights associated with this Collection, the written permission of any copyright owners and/or other rights holders (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) is required for reproduction, distribution, or other use of any protected items beyond that allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with the persons desiring to use the item.

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July 4, 1776

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Declaration of Independence: July 4th 1776

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About Lauren Tarshis

Lauren Tarshis's acclaimed and bestselling I Survived series, which has more than 25 million copies in print and digital formats since its launch in 2010, tells stories of young people and their resilience and strength in the midst of unimaginable disasters. For each book in the series that has captivated kids and educators alike, Tarshis has conducted extensive research on topics such as the sinking of the Titanic, the destruction of Pompeii, Hurricane Katrina, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and now on the war that brought the United States its independence in I Survived the American Revolution, 1776. In addition to being an author, Lauren oversees the ELA magazines for Scholastic Classroom Magazines, and is the editor of Storyworks. She lives in Connecticut, and can be found online at laurentarshis.com.

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I Survived the American Revolution Webcast | Scholastic.com

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Lauren Tarshis's acclaimed and bestselling I Survived series, which has more than 25 million copies in print and digital formats since its launch in 2010, tells stories of young people and their resilience and strength in the midst of unimaginable disasters.

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Thomas Paine | Writer and Revolutionary Video | PBS LearningMedia

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In January 1776, Thomas Paine published a document that sparked the American fight for independence from England. His political pamphlet, called Common Sense, showed the colonists that they could be free from the tyranny of a king by creating an independent nation where they could justly and fairly govern themselves. By watching a biographical video and engaging in two primary source activities, students will encounter the ideas, writings, and impact of Thomas Paine.
Click here for the full lesson plan.

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Liberty’s Kids : American Revolution - Full Series (40 Episodes - High Quality)

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Liberty’s Kids: Two teenage reporters cover the events of the Revolutionary War for Ben Franklin’s newspaper, The Philadelphia Gazette. James, an American co…