The American Revolution
22 Mar 1765 – 15 Dec 179173 items
revolutionusaFrom the Stamp Act to the Bill of Rights
Twenty-six years in which thirteen British colonies argued over a tax, went to war with the empire, declared themselves independent, won with the help of France and Spain, and then wrote the constitution the United States still runs on, with ten amendments to guarantee its citizens’ rights.
It also follows the people the popular story tends to leave out: the Loyalists, perhaps a fifth of the white colonists; the enslaved people who ran to the British lines when they were promised freedom; and the Native nations, most of whom sided with Britain and lost land whichever side won.
How it is laid out
Four bands for the phases: the imperial crisis, the war, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution’s ratification.
Shorter bands for the sieges and campaigns, the two Congresses, the Constitutional Convention and the winter at Valley Forge.
Threads to filter by:
protest,battles,government,rights,diplomacy,slavery,loyalistsandindigenous.
Every date is Gregorian: Britain and its colonies dropped the Julian calendar in 1752, which is why George Washington, born on 11 February 1731 by the old reckoning, kept his birthday on 22 February 1732. Casualty figures are given with the historian who counted them.
The Revolution was effected before the War commenced. The Revolution was in the Minds and Hearts of the People. — John Adams to Hezekiah Niles, 13 February 1818
Items
The Stamp Act
An effigy on the Liberty Tree
The Stamp Act Congress
Repeal, and the Declaratory Act
The Townshend Acts
Redcoats land in Boston
The Boston Massacre
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Port Act
“Give me liberty, or give me death!”
Revere and Dawes ride
Lexington Common
North Bridge, Concord
Washington takes command
Bunker Hill
George III proclaims a rebellion
Dunmore’s Proclamation
The assault on Quebec
“Common Sense”
The British leave Boston
“Remember the Ladies”
The Virginia Declaration of Rights
New Jersey lets propertied women vote
Congress votes for independence
The Declaration of Independence is adopted
Delegates sign the Declaration
The Battle of Long Island
Trenton
The British take Philadelphia
Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga
Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation
The French alliance
Steuben arrives at Valley Forge
The Philipsburg Proclamation
Pennsylvania starts gradual abolition
The fall of Charleston
Arnold’s treason
Kings Mountain
Cowpens
Gálvez takes Pensacola
The Battle of the Chesapeake
Redoubts 9 and 10
The surrender at Yorktown
The Gnadenhutten massacre
The Treaty of Paris
The British leave New York
Washington resigns his commission
Shays’ Rebellion at the Springfield Armory
The Northwest Ordinance
The Great Compromise
The slave trade is protected until 1808
The Constitution is signed
“The Federalist” No. 1
Delaware ratifies first
Massachusetts ratifies, and asks for amendments
New Hampshire, the ninth state
Washington’s inauguration
Congress sends twelve amendments to the states
Rhode Island ratifies last
The Bill of Rights is ratified