2. February 10, 1763 The Treaty of Paris ends the Seven Years’ War, also known as the French and Indian War.
3. October 7, 1763 At the end of the French and Indian War, King George III of England drew a line following the Appalachian Mountains. The Native Americans received all land to the west of the Proclamation line of 1753.
4. April 5, 1764 Great Britain passes the Sugar Act/Revenue Act, decreasing the tax on imported French molasses from six pence to three pence.
6. March 24, 1765 The Quartering Act is created. The British reserve the right to send troops over to make sure there is an adequate amount to keep the colonies under control.
7. May 1765 Patrick Henry and the House of Burgesses debated seven strongly worded resolutions against the Stamp Act, claiming that only the Virginia Assembly can tax Virginians.
8. July 1765 The Sons of Liberty, an organization that resisted the Stamp Act, was formed in many colonies.
9. August 14, 1765 Bostonians hung a dummy dressed in rags that represented stamp distributor Andrew Oliver.
10. October 1765 The Stamp Act Congress meets in New York with representatives from nine colonies. A resolution is sent to King George III with the request to take back the Stamp Act.
11. November 1, 1765 Colonists boycott the use of stamps. A violent mob in New York burns a dummy of the royal governor.
12. December 1765 British General Gage orders the New York assembly to make colonists follow the Quartering Act. Americans’ boycott of British imports increases.
13. March 1766 Parliament repealed the Stamp Act. They also passed the Declaratory Act, which “asserted Parliaments power to enact laws for the colonies in ‘all cases whatsoever.’”
23. June 1772 Colonists burn the British ship, the Gaspee off the coast of Rhode Island.
24. September 1772 The British offer a 500 pound reward for turning in the people responsible for the burning of the Gaspee . These people would be sent to trial in England.
26. November 1773 Colonists want to send tea on the ships back to England without paying the import duties, but Hutchinson (the royal governor of Massachusetts) will not allow it to leave.
27. December 16, 1773 Colonists dump all the tea on the ships in the Boston harbor. This is called the Boston Tea Party.
29. May 20, 1774 The Intolerable Acts, also known as the Coercive Acts, are initiated.
30. September 1774 Fifty-five delegates from all colonies except Georgia meet on Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia. The First Continental Congress is created.
31. October 14, 1774 Congress writes a Declaration of Resolves, refusing to obey the Intolerable Acts.
32. April 1775 British General Gage leads 700 redcoats out of Boston to seize weapons in Concord, Massachusetts.
33. May 1775 The Second Continental Congress meets. George Washington is appointed commander in chief of the continental army.
34. July 1775 The “Olive Branch Petition” is sent to Britain, asking for Britain to take back some of the things holding back reconciliation.
35. May 1775 Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys capture Fort Ticonderoga and gain control of the Champlain valley.
36. August 1775 The king rejects the “Olive Branch Petition” and sends 20,000 additional troops to the colonies.
37. January 9, 1776 Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense , a book that was written in simple text that almost everyone could read, making it spread quickly. Thomas Paine rejects monarchy in this book.
38. June 7, 1776 Richard Henry Lee introduces the idea of a document that states independence.
39. June 9, 1776 A committee, led by Thomas Jefferson, begins drafting a document calling for independence.
40. July 1, 1776 Congress begins to debate the proposed document for independence.
41. July 2, 1776 Twelve colonies vote “yes” for the declaration, with New York abstaining, resulting unanimously in favor for the declaration.
42. July 4, 1776 The document for independence is completed and is sent to the printer.