1776

Timeline

1733

• May 17—Molasses Act: put a protective tariff on all sugar and molasses imported to England or any of her colonies from non-English sources.

1739-42

• War of Jenkins’ Ear

1744-48

• King George’s War (War of the Austrian Succession, 1740-48 in Europe)

1754-1763

• French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War, 1756-63 in Europe)

1763

• October 7—Royal Proclamation of 1763

1764

• April 5—Sugar Act (repealed 1766)

1765

• March 22—Stamp Act
• May 15—Quartering Act
• October 7–25—Stamp Act Congress

1766

• March 18—Stamp Act repealed
• March 18—Declaratory Act : Declared that Parliament could tax the colonies as they saw fit: Parliament has the right “to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the colonies and people of America, subjects of the crown of Great Britain, in all cases whatsoever.”

1767-8 Townshend Acts

• 1767 June 5—New York Restraining Act
• 1767 June 26—Revenue Act
• 1767 June 29—Indemnity Act
• 1767 June 29—Commissioners of Customs Act
• 1768 July 6—Vice Admiralty Court Act

1768

• British seize colonial sloop Liberty in Boston harbor on suspicion of smuggling.

1770

• March 5—Townshend Acts partially repealed
• March 5—Boston Massacre

1772

• June 9—Gaspee affair: The HMS Gaspee was a British customs schooner patrolling in and around Newport, Rhode Island, to enforce the Navigation Acts (including the Sugar Act and the Townshend Acts), chasing the packet ship Hannah when it went aground. Colonists attacked, boarded, and torched the Gaspee.

1773

• May 10—Tea Act: allowed the British East India Company to import tea directly to the colonies without stopping in Britain, and reduced the duty, so as to undercut the price of tea smuggled from the Dutch and French.
• December 16—Boston Tea Party (called “Destruction of the Tea” at the time)

1774

• “Intolerable” Acts (the first four were called the Coercive Acts by the British):
  • March 20—Boston Port Act—Closed the Port of Boston until the destroyed tea was paid for
  • May 20—Massachusetts Government Act—Revoked the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
  • May 20—Administration of Justice Act (called the “Murder Act” by Washington; called the “Monkey Act” by others)—allowed change of venue for a trial of a patriot accused of attacking a royal official to Britain or another British colony
  • June 2—Quartering Act—Required colonial governments to provide housing, food, and drink for British soldiers
  • June 22—Quebec Act
    • Extended the boundaries of the Province of Quebec to include all land between the Ohio and Mississippi River angle; this included lands claimed by Virginia, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
    • Allowed practice of the Roman Catholic religion in the Province of Quebec, and allowed the clergy to collect tithes.
    • Set up an appointed government
    • Established French law for private matters, but retained English common law for public matters (including criminal law)
    • Reestablished the seigneural system
• First Continental Congress (September 5—October 25)
  • October 14—Suffolk Resolves
  • October 20—Continental Association
  • October 25—Petition to the King, calling for repeal of the Intolerable Acts

1775

• April 18—Paul Revere’s famous ride
• April 19—Fighting breaks out at Lexington and Concord
• May 10—(2nd) Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia; John Hancock of Massachusetts elected president.
• June 17—Battle of Bunker Hill
• June 15—George Washington appointed commander-in-chief of Continental Army; he accepts the next day.
• July 5 —Congress submits John Dickinson’s “Olive Branch Petition,” proclaiming its loyalty to King George III, and asking him to mediate the grievances Congress has with the British government
• July 6—Congress issues Jefferson’s “Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of taking up Arms.”
• August 23—The king rejects the Olive Branch Petition and declares the colonies in rebellion.

1776

• January 9—Thomas Paine’s Common Sense is published in Philadelphia
• March 17—The British evacuate Boston, never to return.  (This event is still celebrated annually in Massachusetts as “Evacuation Day.”)
• May 10—Congress passes a resolution that any colony having a government not inclined to independence should form one that is.
• May 15—Congress passes a more radical version of the above resolution with a preamble by John Adams recommending all colonies renounce allgegiance to the Crown.
• June 7—Richard Henry Lee introduces resolution on independence.
• June 11—Congress appoints a committee to draft a declaration, consisting of Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, Sherman, and Livingston
• June 12—Congress appoints a committee to draft a form of government, with Dickinson as president: this became the Articles of Confederation.
• June 28—2nd draft of declaration (as amended by Franklin, then Adams, then the other two) is read in Congress.
• July 2—Lee’s resolution is passed by Congress.
• July 4—Congress endorses the Declaration of Independence.
• July 5—The Declaration was printed.
• July 6—The Pennsylvania Evening Post became the first newspaper to publish the Declaration.
• July 8—The Declaration was read publicly in Philadelphia; Trenton, NJ; and Easton, PA.
• July 9—The Declaration was read by General George Washington to his men in New York.
• July 19—Congress orders the Declaration to be engrossed, and signed by all members
• August 2—The majority of delegates sign the declaration.

Note

This material is mostly derived from The History Place.  For events before the war, see this page.  For events from 1777 to the end of the war, see this page.  For events after the war leading up to establishment of the new government under the Constitution, see this page.

Later events

1777

• July 4—Independence Day celebrated in Philadelphia, with bonfires, bell ringing, and fireworks; Congress adjourned for the day.
• September 11—British victory at the Battle of Brandywine forced Congress to flee Philadelphia to Lancaster, and then York. Pro-Revolutionary civilians flee as well
• September 23—British occupied Philadelphia, greeted by Loyalist civilians.

1778

• June 18—British abandoned Philadelphia in order to defend New York City; Continental forces retook Philadelphia the same day.
• July 2—Congress returned to Philadelphia.
• July 4—General Washington marked the day with a double ration of rum for his men and a feu de joie (artillery salute).
• July 4—Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, as envoys in Paris, hosted a dinner for fellow Americans in Paris.

1783

• September 3—Treaty of Paris between the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain: Britain recognized American independence. (Britain signed separate peace treaties with France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic.)

1826

• July 4—On the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died.

1863

• July 4—After a six week siege, Vicksburg, Mississippi fell to U. S. Army forces commanded by General Grant, effectively giving control of the Missisippi River to the Union, and effectively cutting the Confederacy in two. The Battle of Gettysburg ended the previous day, so some in Washington called this day the best fourth of July since 1776.

1870

• Congress made July 4—Independence Day an (unpaid) holiday for federal workers.

1938

• Congress made Independence day a paid holiday for federal employees.