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1772
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| The first independent Anglo-American government is
founded in May by the Watauga Association in East Tennessee, a group of
settlers needing mutual protection along the Watauga River.
The written agreement allowed for a five man court to act as the
government. Also is 1772, the Wataugans would negotiate a ten
year lease with the Cherokee for land along the river. June 9, 1772 - British customs cutter HMS Gaspee, charged with enforcing the Stamp Act of 1865 and the Townshend Acts, is lured aground off the coast of Warwick, Rhode Island on the shore of Narragansett Bay. The next day, colonial sympathizers defy the king and torch the revenue ship. November 2, 1772 - Samuel Adams organizes the Committee of Correspondence, a forerunner of the union of American colonies, that begins the American Revolution. The meeting was held in Faneuil Hall, Boston, (drawing above) and later repeated throughout the American colonies. |
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1773
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| March - The House of Burgesses in the Colony of
Virginia reacts strongly against British policies by setting up a
committee to contact the other colonies about their common defense. December 16, 1773 - When the English East India Company sought financial assistance, England allowed the company to ship surplus tea to America at low cost. This rankled the American colonists, who resented the implementation of a single company controlling the tea trade, as well as the right of the British government to tax the colonies without their consent. Meeting at the Old South Meeting House, Bostonians led by Josiah Quincy and Samuel Adams discussed the new British tax on tea and subsequently boarded three ships in the nearby harbor, tossing the 342 chests of tea overboard. The Boston Tea Party caused Parliament to close the port of Boston and pushed the American colonies one step closer to war. The laws and ordinances of the city of Albany, New York are published. |
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1774
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| June 2, 1774. The Intolerable Acts, including
the reestablishment of the Quartering Act, requiring colonists allow
British soldiers into their homes, and the curtailment of Massachusetts
self-rule, are enacted by the British government. Later led
to the 3rd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the U.S.
Army from doing the same. September 5 to October 26. The First Continental Congress was held in Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia, protesting the Intolerable Acts. The Congress, attended by all American colonies except Georgia, petitioned King George to stop the new regulations on Massachusetts, and called for civil disobedience and boycotts of British wares by the American Association. No concessions were made by the King or English parliament. The colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut ban the further importation of slaves. |
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1775
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| By the end of January 1775, there were 37 newspapers
being printed in the American colonies. Seven newspapers were
published in Massachusetts; one in New Hampshire; two in Rhode Island;
and 4 in Connecticut. Three papers were published in New York
City, with one additional New York paper published in Albany.
Nine were published in Pennsylvania; two in Maryland; two in Virginia
(both at Williamsburg); two in North Carolina; three in South Carolina,
and one in Georgia. February 9, 1775 - The British government declares Massachusetts in rebellion. March 23, 1775 - Patrick Henry addressed the Virginia House of Burgesses in St. John’s Church in Richmond, where he decreed, “Give me Liberty or Give me Death.” His speech is often credited with convincing Virginia to permit Virginia troops to enter the Revolutionary War. The crowd reacted to Henry’s speech with fervent cries, “To Arms! To Arms!” April 18, 1775 - Two lanterns were hung from the steeple of Old North Church by sexton Robert Newman as Paul Revere and William Dawes rode through the night, warning patriots that the British were coming to Concord to destroy arms. The next day, during armed resistence, 8 Minutemen were killed at Lexington and the British took 273 casualties on their return from Concord, starting the American Revolution. This was a culmination of the months prior, as colonists began to gather arms and powder if fighting the British became necessary. However, even after the patriot’s brave battle at Lexington and Concord, the majority of Americans were undecided whether war or reconciliation was the more prudent course of action. June 15, 1775 - The Continental Congress appoints George Washington commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, sending him to Boston with the task to take charge of the ragtag militia there. |
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1776
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January 10 - Thomas Paine, and English writer,
publishes his pamphlet “Common Sense,”touting the ability and right of
America to create a democratic and free nation, winning public support
for the cause of American independence from Britain with the sale of
hundreds of thousands of copies. Thomas Jefferson received a
copy of “Common Sense” at his home Monticello, whose sentiments pleased
him, and the course for independence and the Declaration to follow
began.
July 4, 1776 - The Declaration of Independence, from the pen of Thomas Jefferson and his committee, was approved in the Second Continental Congress of the United States of America, held in Independence Hall (above), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was influenced by many writers, including John Locke, and was emboldened by the notion that man had the natural right to change or overthrow the government that denied their rights. Four days later, the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed publicly for the first time outside the Province House in Philadelphia, later to be dubbed Independence Hall, touching off a celebration that rippled through the city. Liberty and freedom was celebrated amongst commoners and soldiers, who would soon fight to solidify its hold on the thirteen colonies. September 22, 1776 - As a member of the Continental Army sent on an intelligence gathering mission behind enemy lines on Long Island, Nathan Hale, disguised as a Dutch teacher, was subsequently caught and executed by the British for spying. In a speech before he was hung, the immortal words, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country,” were reportedly uttered, and reverberated through repetition throughout the colonies. A statue of Hale now sits outside the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C. September 7, 1776 - In the world’s first submarine attack, the American submersible ship Turtle attempts to attach a time bomb to the flagship of British Admiral Richard Howe’s ship HMS Eagle in New York Harbor. December 25 to 26 - At McKonkey’s Ferry, General Washington and his 2,400 troops cross the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to New Jersey on Christmas Day from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. the next morning, and defeats 1,400 Hessians in the 1st Battle of Trenton, capturing 900 men. |
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1777
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| January 3, 1777 - General Washington and the 7,000 man
Continental Army defeats British General Charles Cornwallis at
Princeton, New Jersey. This battle, combined with that of
Trenton one week earlier, impressed upon other European nations that
the Americans could combat the British Army. The Continental Congress adopts the Stars and Stripes as the national flag on June 14, 1777. It would later fly on the battlefield for the first time on September 3rd at Cooch’s Bridge, Maryland. July 26, 1777 - Americans held Fort Stanwix is besieged by British and Indian troops under the command of General Barry St. Leger. The British are forced to withdraw after three weeks under the duress of the fort’s defenders, led by Colonel Peter Ganesvoort. November 15 - The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union are adopted by the Continental Congress in Independence Hall. It serves as the first constitution of the United States. December 17 - After John Adams, elected commissioner to France by the Continental Congress, and Benjamin Franklin engage their support for the Revolutionary War, France recognizes the independence of the 13 colonies, signing treaties of alliance and commerce. French involvement becomes the turning point of the war. December 19 - After failing victory in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, and in response to the British capture of Philadelphia, George Washington marches his 11,000 man Continental Army into Valley Forge for the first winter encampment. |
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1778
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In an advertisement in a Kentucky gazette, a New Jersey
stallion was called a thoroughbred, the first usage in the United
States of that equine term. February 5, 1778 - Friedrich von Steuben of the Prussian Army meets with the Continental Congress in York, Pennsylvania. They direct him to join General George Washington at the winter encampment at Valley Forge to drill the Continental Army into an effective fighting unit while the British retain control of Philadelphia, only twenty miles away. South Carolina also becomes the first state to ratify the Articles of Confederation. Pictured above, Von Steuben's training ground at Valley Forge today. February 6, 1778 - France signs the treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United States, officially recognizing the new nation, and sends Pierre L’Enfant to be captain of engineers at Valley Forge. Later, L’Enfant would be commissioned to design the capital city of the United States, Washington, D.C. June 18 - British evacuate Philadelphia. December 28 - The first battle of Savannah, Georgia was lost to the British. |
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1779
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| February 25 - Fort Sackville at Vincennes, Indiana is
surrendered by British troops under the command of British Lt. Governor
Henry Hamilton. The militia under Lt. Colonel George Rogers
Clark, bolsters the western claims in the American Revolution. June 1, 1779 - Although currently a successful American general, Benedict Arnold is court-marshaled for civil authority disputes. His sentence, however, was a light reprimand by General Washington. Mad about the court-marshal and the new American alliance with France, Arnold became a traitor against the American cause when he plotted to transfer the fort at West Point, New York, for 20,000 sterling (approximately $1,000,000 today) that would effectively give control of the Hudson River to British forces. His plot was uncovered, but Arnold escaped, then joined British forces and fought against the Continental Army. September 23 - John Paul Jones and the Bonhomme Richard defeat the Serapis in the British North Sea. December 1 - General Washington arrives at Morristown, New Jersey, where the Continental Army winters in the second season of the Revolutionary War. December 25 - Nashville, Tennessee is founded by James Robertson as Fort Nashborough. |
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