istoryworld
Events relating to the american revolution
George Washington drives the British garrison from Boston, and moves south to protect New York
The revolutionary convention of Virginia votes for independence from Britain, and instructs its delegates in Philadelphia to propose this motion
Virginia's motion for independence from Britain is passed at the Continental Congress of the colonies with no opposing vote
Thomas Jefferson's text for the Declaration of Independence is accepted by the Congress in Philadelphia
John Hancock is the first delegate to sign the Declaration of Independence, formally written out on a large sheet of parchment
George Washington, driven from New York by the British, retreats towards Philadelphia
George Washington defeats the British at Trenton at a psychologically important moment in the course of the war
Congress adopts a new flag for independent America – the stars and stripes
George Washington, heavily defeated in a battle at Brandywine, is forced to relinquish Philadelphia to the British
The American general Horatio Gates captures the army of General Burgoyne near Saratoga
The US Congress agrees the final version of the Articles of Confederation, defining the terms on which states join the Union
Benjamin Franklin persuades the French to sign a Treaty of Alliance, committing France to the US cause
France, joining the American colonies in their fight against Britain, sends a large fleet across the Atlantic
The American naval hero John Paul Jones makes successful raids around the coasts of Britain
The British rapidly abandon Philadelphia on news of the expected arrival of a French fleet
The British adopt a new policy in the south, landing in Georgia and capturing much of South Carolina
Francis Hopkinson's popular ballad The Battle of the Kegs describes an ingenious American threat to the British navy
U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, fights H.M.S. Serapis near England's Flamborough Head
The capture of British go-between John André yields proof that US general Benedict Arnold is in the pay of the British
British army officer John André is executed in New York as a spy
Maryland, ratifies the Articles of Confederation (the last state to do so), completing 'the Confederation of the United States'
The Bank of North America is established by the Continental Congress to lend money to the fledgling Revolutionary government
US poet Philip Freneau describes in The British Prison Ship the horrors of his experiences as a prisoner
The British general Charles Cornwallis, isolated at Yorktown, is forced to surrender in the final engagement of the Revolutionary War
Some 40,000 Loyalists flee from British America to the previously French colonies, in particular Nova Scotia
