Timeline of the Revolution

The Peace of Paris ends the French and Indian War; Britain gains an empire.

Parliament passes the The Sugar Act, which is an indirect tax on the colonists, in order to raise revenue.

Parliament passes the Stamp Act, which includes taxes on most forms of paper, including playing cards. It is the first direct tax on the colonists.

In the Virginia House of Burgesses, Patrick Henry, during his speech against the Stamp Act, reputedly answers a cry of Treason! with If this be treason, make the most of it!

The Stamp Act Congress, meeting in New York with representatives from nine colonies, adopt the Declaration of Rights & Grievances.

King George III reluctantly agrees with Parliament and gives his assent to repeal the Stamp Act.

Parliament passes the Revenue Act, the first of the Townsend Acts, levying taxes on the American colonies.

The Boston Non-Importation Agreement calls for a boycott certain types of British goods.

British troops, taunted by a crowd, kill five colonists — the event is dubbed the Boston Massacre. Crispus Attucks, a slave, is the first one shot.

British Parliament passes the Tea Act; King George III gives his royal assent on 10 May.

Parliament passes the Boston Port Act — the first of the Intolerable Acts — which closes the ports of Boston to all commerce.

Parliament passes a second Quartering Act, one of the Intolerable Acts, which mandates that colonists must board English troops in their homes.

In response to the Intolerable Acts, representatives from twelve colonies assemble in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress.

First Continental Congress adjourns but agrees to meet again 10 May 1775.

Parliament declares that Massachusetts colony is in rebellion.

Paul Revere and William Dawes ride on separate routes from Boston to Lexington to warn that the British Regulars are coming.

The Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia.

The Second Continental Congress elects George Washington, a delegate to Congress from Virginia, as Commander of the Continental Army. He leaves for Boston the next day.

General George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

King George III proclaims the North American colonies to be in open rebellion.

Continental Congress creates a Navy, naming Esek Hopkins, Esq., as commander in chief of the fleet. Four captains are also named, as well as five first lieutenants, including John Paul Jones.

Common Sense, by Thomas Paine, is published.

Fortification of Dorchester Heights with cannon (taken from Fort Ticonderoga by a team led by Henry Knox).

North Carolina adopts Halifax Resolves to declare independence.

Richard Henry Lee of Virginia moves for the Continental Congress to declare independence from Britain.

Virginia adopts a Declaration of Rights, largely written by George Mason.

The Virginia state constitution is adopted. Patrick Henry becomes Governor.

The Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Continental Congress and sent to the printer.

The Declaration of Independence is read to George Washington’s troops in New York.

Under cover of night and early morning fog, Continental troops avoid defeat on Long Island by escaping across the river to Manhattan.

British forces capture Kip’s Bay, Manhattan.

Battle of White Plains. Washington crosses the Hudson and retreats to New Jersey.

Nathaniel Greene evacuates his troops from Fort Lee (across the Hudson River from Fort Washington) just ahead of its unopposed capture by Lord Cornwallis.

Battle of Princeton. Washington follows his victory at Trenton by overcoming the British in Princeton, New Jersey.

Continental Congress adopts the Stars & Stripes to replace the Grand Union flag.

Battle of Bennington. New England’s Green Mountain Boys rout the British in Vermont.

First Battle of Saratoga. General John Burgoyne holds the fields but suffers serious losses by the Americans under General Horatio Gates at Freeman's Farm, New York.

Continental Congress opens session in York, Pennsylvania, after fleeing from Philadelphia, which is occupied by the British.

Battle of Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton. British seize the Forts near West Point as a diversion to draw troops from General Gates.

Battle of Red Bank. Hessian attack on Fort Mercer, on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River, is repulsed by militia.

Siege of Fort Mifflin. British capture the Fort, just below Philadelphia, on the Delaware River.

General Washington settles his troops for the winter at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

The French-American Treaty of Alliance is signed in Paris, the first U.S. treaty, providing aid and support to the American cause.

Baron von Steuben joins the Continental Army at Valley Forge.

Following a winter and spring in Philadelphia, the British evacuate the city.

Battle of Monmouth. Washington holds the field against General Clinton in New Jersey.

Amsterdam signs trade agreement with the U.S.

Battle of Savannah. British begin their southern strategy by taking Savannah, Georgia.

Following Washington’s orders for total destruction and devastation of the Iroquois settlements across upstate New York, Generals Sullivan and Clinton lead troops who destroy at least forty Indian villages by 3-Oct.

Battle of Stony Point. American General Mad Anthony Wayne captures Stony Point, New York.

Congress names John Adams to negotiate terms of peace with England.

Pennsylvania becomes the first U.S. state to abolish slavery — though for new-borns only.

French troops arrive at Newport, Rhode Island, to aid the American cause.

British Major John André is arrested leading to the exposure of Benedict Arnold's plans to cede West Point to the British.

Following Horatio Gates ignoble defeat in Charleston, Washington names General Nathanael Greene commander of the Southern Army. Without winning a single battle, Greene will wear the British down.

A British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold burns Richmond, Virginia.

The Articles of Confederation is officially in effect when it is ratified by the 13th state, Maryland.

British troops, under General Charles Cornwallis, arrive in Yorktown, Virginia.

Battle of the Chesapeake Capes. The French fleet commanded by Admiral d’Estaing drives British naval force from Chesapeake Bay. Cornwallis’s troops are trapped in Yorktown.

French fleet drives British naval force from Chesapeake Bay, leaving Cornwallis and the Regulars without an exit from Yorktown.

British General Charles Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown, Virginia. Though no one knows it yet, the Revolutionary War is effectively over.

Lord North resigns as British prime minister.

British evacuate Savannah, Georgia.

British evacuate Charleston, South Carolina.

Spain recognizes U.S. independence.

The Continental Army is disbanded; General Washington bids farewell to his soldiers at Fraunces Tavern in Manhattan.

British troops evacuate New York, their last military position in the U.S.

The import of African slaves is banned by all of the Northern states.

Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris, which formally concludes the Revolutionary War.

Shays’ Rebellion. Daniel Shays, a veteran of the Revolution, leads debt-ridden farmers in Massachusetts in a rebellion — ironically it is a rebellion against taxes.

Shays’ main forces are scattered by a surprise attack by militia. Though there is scattered resistance for several months to come, the Rebellion ultimately fails.

All but three of the delegates — George Mason, Elbridge Gerry, and Edmund Randolph — adopt the Constitution in Philadelphia.

The first Federalist letter appears in New York newspapers. In all, 85 essays will be written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay advocating for ratification of the Constitution.

Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the Constitution.

Georgia is the fourth state to ratify the Constitution.

Massachusetts is the sixth state to ratify the Constitution.

South Carolina becomes the eighth state to ratify the Constitution.

Virginia is the tenth state to ratify the Constitution.

Continental Congress votes to begin a new government on 4 March 1789.

The first Electoral College chooses Washington as president and John Adams as vice president of the new government.

John Adams is sworn in as the first U.S. Vice President.

Congress passes 12 constitutional amendments guaranteeing personal rights and proposes them to the states for ratification.

North Carolina is the 12th state to ratify the Constitution.

Rhode Island is the 13th and last state to ratify the Constitution.

Three-fourths of the states ratify 10 of twelve amendments to the Constitution. The Bill of Rights becomes law.