| 1770 | | 5 Mar:
The Boston Massacre. British troops kill five colonists.LoC NPS |
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| 1772 | | 9 Jun:
The British customs schooner Gaspée runs aground in Narragansett Bay and is burned by the Rhode Island colonists.Gaspee.org WH |
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| 1774 | |
| 1775 | |
| | 18 Apr:
Paul Revere rides out to warn the colonists that the British troops were on the march.PRH LoC |
|
| | 19 Apr:
The first battles of the American Revolution. British troops fight American Minutemen at Lexington, killing eight. The British then move to Concord where they again engage the colonials. By the end of the battle, 93 colonists are dead. The British, having lost 273, retreat to Boston.LoC NPS |
|
| | 10 May:
Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen capture Fort Ticonderoga.NPS VANY |
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| |
| | 17 Jun:
The Battle of Bunker Hill takes place.LoC Yale |
|
| | 22 Jun:
The Continental Congress resolves to issue a paper currency backed by 2 million Spanish milled dollars in order to fund the fight with Britain.POLITICO LoC |
|
| | 30 Jun:
The Continental Congress attempts to notify the king of England that American colonists are unhappy with parliamentary policy by drafting the Articles of War.Avalon LoC |
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| |
| |
| | 10 Nov:
A resolution is approved calling for two battalions of Marines able to fight for independence at sea and on shore.WHS USNI |
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| |
| | 31 Dec:
After nearly a month, Continental forces, under command of Montgomery and Arnold, are soundly defeated after attacking Québec.CMoH SIMag |
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| 1776 | |
| | 24 Jan:
After several months, the cannons captured at Fort Ticonderoga make it to Boston.APC AHC |
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| |
| | 3 Apr:
Congress gives to commanders of private ships the authority to capture British ships and cargo.LoC CTDA |
|
| | 7 Apr:
The American warship Lexington captures the first British warship of the American Revolution, the HMS Edward.RW DoD |
|
| | 4 Jul:
The United States is founded when the Second Continental Congress declares its independence from Great Britain.USHistory USNA |
|
| | 10 Aug:
Word of America's Declaration of Independence finally reaches London.TXSAR OSA |
|
| | 27 Aug:
The British defeat the Americans in the Battle of Long Island.BB MtVernon |
|
| | 7 Sep:
David Bushnell's invention, American Turtle, the first combat submarine, is deployed against the H.M.S. Eagle in New York harbor.USSNautilus Archaeology |
|
| | 16 Sep:
George Washington gets his first victory in the Battle of Harlem Heights.MtVernon RW |
|
| | 22 Sep:
Nathan Hale is executed by the British for spying.tAW LoC |
|
| | 28 Oct:
British and Hessian troops under Howe meet Americans under Washington in the Battle of White Plains.MtVernon BB |
|
| | 16 Nov:
British and Hession forces capture Fort Washington on the northern end of Manhattan.History.com BB |
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| |
| | 26 Dec:
Washington gets his first major victory at Trenton.MtVernon BB |
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| 1777 | | 3 Jan:
Washington defeats the British in the Battle of Princeton.MtVernon BB |
|
| | 15 Jan:
New Connecticut declares its independence from Great Britain and the colony of New York. The name is changed to Vermont in June of that year.History.com UND |
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| |
| | 26 Apr:
Major General William Tryon, royal governor of New York, and 2000 British troops attack and destroy Danbury, Connecticut.DM ABT |
|
| | 17 Oct:
British troops surrender at Saratoga.Saratoga AoC |
|
| | 15 Nov:
The Articles of Confederation are adopted by the Continental Congress.OurDocs LoC |
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| 1778 | |
| | 11 Nov:
The Cherry Valley Massacre - Tory and Mohawk forces murder 47 townsfolk, mostly by tomahawk.CN SotS |
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| |
| 1779 | |
| |
| | 23 Sep:
Capt. John Paul Jones, considered the father of the United States Navy, on board the Bonhomme Richard, defeats the H.M.S. Serapis off the coast of England.OTF MM&P |
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| 1780 | | 21 Sep:
Treasonous American General Benedict Arnold, believing that he was unrewarded for his military successes, meets with British Major John Andre to discuss handing over West Point to the British.NCC LoC |
|
| | 9 Oct:
An expedition sets off from Harvard College to observe a solar eclipse from Penobscot Bay in Maine which is still controlled by Britain.USNA JSTOR |
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| 1781 | | 5 Jan:
Richmond, Virginia is captured and burned by American traitor and British general Benedict Arnold.AMN VAMoH&C |
|
| | 17 Jan:
the American militia, led by Colonel Daniel Morgan, defeat the British under Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton in the Battle of Cowpens.BB fold3 |
|
| | 15 Mar:
British troops under Cornwallis defeat a larger American force at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina.NPS BB |
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| |
| | 28 Sep:
The Siege of Yorktown begins. American and French forces surround British forces.BB MtVernon |
|
| | 19 Oct:
Cornwallis surrenders to Washington at Yorktown.AoC LoC |
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| 1782 | | 7 Aug:
The Purple Heart is established by General George Washington at Newburgh, New York.NPHHoH USArmy |
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| 1783 | |
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