Background
- 1763, as taxation without consent mounted, on top of a struggling economy, simply proved too much for the colonists. They began boycotting English imports until the new Stamp Act was repealed.
- 1770, more taxes followed, including more riots. Britain then sends troops, and kills some at the Boston Massacre.
- 1773, when troops finally left, taxes were repealed again, except for one on tea. Colonists then began dumping tea, the Boston Tea Party, and the British troops returned.
- 1774, meanwhile, colonies were sharing their ideas, and Patriot riders like Paul Revere helped spread the news of acts such as the Boston Tea Party. So the colonies decided they needed to meet in person, which they did in Philadelphia at the first Continental Congress.
- British troops were marching in Boston, but were met by Minutemen and Patriot farmers at Concord, and retreated.
- 1775, the Second Congress is hurried, and John Adams works deals to support a war, while George Washington takes command of the army.
- 1776, Congress votes in favor, and the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, is accepted on July 4. The United States of America then sends Benjamin Franklin to France to negotiate help, and succeeds.
- 1777, the British take Philadelphia, and Washington’s army starves at Valley Forge. But the tide begins to turn at the Battle of Saratoga.
- 1781, finally, in Yorktown, Virginia, Americans and French force the British surrender.
- 1783, the Treaty of Paris is signed. England keeps Canada and some Caribbean locations, while the U.S. gets the rest.
- France went on to face their own revolutionary ideas, while Indians lost more land, and thousands of slaves escaped.