1754-1763 |
|
The French and Indian War |
1754 |
June 19-July 11 |
The Albany Congress |
1763 |
Oct. 7 |
Proclamation of 1763 |
1764 |
April 5 |
The Sugar Act |
September 1 |
The Currency Act |
1765 |
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 |
1766 |
March 18 |
The Declaratory Act |
1767 |
June 29 |
The Townshend Revenue Act |
1768 |
August 1 |
Boston Non-Importation Agreement |
1770 |
March 5 |
The Boston Massacre |
1772 |
June 9 |
The Gaspee Affair |
1773 |
May 10 |
The Tea Act |
Dec. 16 |
The Boston Tea Party |
1774 |
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 |
1775 |
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. 10-21 |
Ninety Six, SC,
Patriots sieged |
Nov. 13 |
The patriots under
Montgomery occupy Montreal in Canada |
Dec. 11 |
Virginia and NC
patriots rout Loyalist troops and burn Norfolk |
Dec. 22 |
Col. 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 |
1776 |
Jan. 1 |
Daniel Morgan taken
prisoner in attempt to take Quebec City |
Jan. 15 |
Paine's
"Common Sense" published |
Feb. 27 |
The patriots 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 |
Patriots 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 |
Patriots 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 |
Col. Williamson and
Andrew Pickens defeat Cherokee Indians and burn Tamassy, an Indian town |
Aug. 27 |
Redcoats defeat the
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 |
Col. Williamson's
patriots 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 |
1777 |
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 |
Rain-out 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 |
1778 |
Feb. 6 |
The United States and
France sign the
French Alliance |
March 7 |
British General
William Howe replaced by Henry Clinton |
April 19 |
British Ships defeated at Frederica
Naval Action, St. Simons Island |
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 |
Dec. 29 |
The redcoats occupy Savannah |
1779 |
Feb. 3 |
Maj. Gen. 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. Col.
Jacques Marcus Prevost defeats Americans under Gen. John Ashe at Brier
Creek, GA |
May 11-13 |
Maj. General Augustin
Prévost (brother of Jacques, see above) breaks his siege when American
forces under Maj. Gen. Lincoln approaches |
June 20 |
Stono River, SC, Maj.
Gen. 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 |
"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 |
Sept. 28 |
The Tappan Massacre
("No Flint" Grey kills 30 Americans by bayonet) |
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) |
1780 |
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 Maj. Patrick Ferguson and one-third of General Cornwallis's
army |
Oct. 14 |
Washington names
Nathanael Greene commander of the Southern Army |
1781 |
Jan. 1 |
Mutiny of unpaid
Pennsylvania soldiers |
Jan. 17 |
Patriot Morgan
overwhelmingly defeats British Col. 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 patriot 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 |
1782 |
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 |
1783 |
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 |
1787 |
Sept. 17 |
U.S. Constitution signed |
1788 |
June 21 |
U.S. Constitution
adopted, when New Hampshire ratifies it |