| 1770 |
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Crispus Attucks, an African American, is the first to die when British soldiers fire upon American colonists at the Boston Massacre. |
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King George III insists on keeping the tax on tea as a symbol of Britain's right to tax its colonies, while repealing the other Townshend duties. |
| 1771 |
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Phyllis Wheatly is the first African American woman to have her poems published. |
| 1772 |
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Rhode Island merchants attack and burn the British customs ship Gaspee. |
| 1773 |
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Patriotic Americans pitch 342 cases of tea into Boston Harbor to protest the Tea Act. This law gave British East India Company merchants an unfair business advantage, almost destroying the businesses of American tea merchants. |
| 1774 |
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British Parliament passes the "Intolerable Acts," closing the port of Boston, forbidding the colonists to hold public meetings without the governor's approval, and requiring Massachusetts residents to house and feed British troops. |
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The First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia, with delegates from every colony except Georgia. Congress threatens another boycott of British goods if Parliament continues to restrict the colonies' political authority. |
| 1775 |  |
The American Revolution begins on April 19 when shots are fired between colonial militiamen and British soldiers at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. 273 British soldiers and 93 Americans are killed. |
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Anthony Benezet of Philiadelphia organizes the world's first abolitionist society, a group opposed to the enslavement of African Americans. |
| 1776 |
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The Continental Congress approves the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, on July 4th. |
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The British army under General Howe occupies New York City. |
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George Washington, commander of the American army, takes a thousand British and Hessian soldiers prisoner the day after Christmas in a surprise attack at Trenton, New Jersey. |
| 1777 |
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United States Congress adopts the American flag of thirteen alternating red and white stripes and thirteen white stars on a blue background. |
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Green Mountain Boys of Vermont and Massachusetts militiamen defeat the British at the Battle of Bennington. |
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The Continental Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation, which provide a loose system of government for the new nation but little authority to carry out responsibilities. |
| 1778 |
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Captain James Cook charts the Alaskan coast and is the first European to explore Hawaii. |
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George Washington and his Continental Army, without adequate supplies and shelter, spend the winter at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. |
| 1779 |
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American naval captain John Paul Jones and his sailors defeat and capture a British warship in a fierce battle at sea. |
