istoryworld
Events relating to america
The British Chancellor, Charles Townshend, passes a series of acts taxing all glass, lead, paint, paper and tea imported into the American colonies
Franciscan missionary Junipero Serra begins work at San Diego de Cala, the first of his nine California missions
The triangular trade, controlled from Liverpool, ships millions of Africans across the Atlantic as slaves
British troops fire into an unruly crowd in Boston, Massachusetts, killing five
In response to American protests, the British government removes the Townshend duties on all commodities with the exception of tea
27-year-old Thomas Jefferson begins constructing a mansion on a hilltop in Charlottesville, calling it Monticello ('little mountain')
Some fifty colonists, disguised as Indians, tip a valuable cargo of tea into Boston harbour as a protest against British tax
As a retaliation for the Boston Tea Party, the British parliament closes Boston's port with the first of its Coercive Acts
Britain's new Coercive (or Intolerable) Acts include the requirement that Massachusetts citizens give board and lodging to British troops
The Spanish, now in sole occupation of the Falkland Islands, call them Las Islas Malvinas
Encouraged by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine emigrates to America and settles in Philadelphia
Illiterate visionary Ann Lee, leader of an English sect, the 'Shaking Quakers', crosses the Atlantic to spread the word
Delegates from twelve American colonies meet in Philadelphia and agree not to import any goods from Britain
Pioneer Daniel Boone and other backwoodsmen cut the road west that will bring settlers to Kentucky
Patrick Henry makes a stirring declaration – 'Give me liberty or give me death' – to the Virginia Assembly
John Singleton Copley, already established as America's greatest portrait painter, moves to London
General Gage sends a detachment of British troops to seize weapons held by American Patriots at Concord
Paul Revere is one of the US riders taking an urgent warning to Concord, but he is captured on the journey
The first shot of the American Revolution is fired in a skirmish between redcoats and militiamen at Lexington, on the road to Concord
Delegates from the states reassemble in Philadelphia, with hostilities against the British already under way in Massachusetts
Delegates in Philadelphia select George Washington as commander-in-chief of the colonial army
At Bunker Hill, overlooking Boston from the north, the American militiamen prove their worth against British professional soldiers
Delegates to the Continental Congress make a final bid for peace, sending the Olive Branch Petition to George III
Britain declares the colonies to be in a state of rebellion, and sets up a naval blockade of the American coastline
Yankee Doodle is the most popular song with the patriot troops in the American Revolution
