This section of the Timeline of United States history concerns events from 1760 to 1789.
Contents |
1760s
- 1760 - Pierre de Rigaud, Governor of New France, capitulates (September 8) to Field Marshal Jeffrey Amherst. This ends most fighting in North America between France and Great Britain in the French and Indian War. Amherst becomes the First British Governor-General of territories that would later become Canada plus lands (Ohio Country and Illinois Country) west of the American Colonies.
- 1760 - King George II of Great Britain dies (October 25) and is succeeded by his grandson George III.
- 1763 - The Treaty of Paris (February 10) formally ends the French and Indian War. France cedes most of its territories in North America to Great Britain, but Louisiana west of the Mississippi River is ceded to Spain.
- 1763 - Previously allied with France, Native American tribes in the Great Lakes region resist the policies of the British under Amherst. Pontiac's Rebellion begins, lasting until 1766.
- 1763 - King George's Royal Proclamation of 1763 (October 7) establishes administration in territories newly ceded by France. To prevent further violence between settlers and Native Americans, the Proclamation sets a western boundary on the American colonies.
- 1764 - The Sugar Act (April 5), intended to raise revenues, and the Currency Act (September 1), prohibiting the colonies from issuing paper money, are passed by Parliament. These Acts, coming during the economic slump that followed the French and Indian War, are resented by the colonists and lead to protests.
- 1765 - To help defray the cost of keeping troops in America, Parliament enacts (March 22) the Stamp Act, imposing a tax on many types of printed materials used in the colonies. Seen as a violation of rights, the Act sparks violent demonstrations in several Colonies. Virginia's House of Burgesses adopts (May 29) the Virginia Resolves claiming that, under British law, Virginians could be taxed only by an assembly to which they had elected representatives. Delegates from nine colonies attend the Stamp Act Congress which adopts (October 19) a Declaration of Rights and Grievances and petitions Parliament and the king to repeal the Act.
- 1765 - Parliament enacts (March 24) the Quartering Act, requiring the Colonies to provide housing, food, and other provisions to British troops.
- 1766 - Liberty Pole erected in New York City commons in celebration of the Stamp Act repeal (May 21). An intermittent skirmish with the British garrison over the removal of this and other poles, and their replacement by the Sons of Liberty, rages until the Province of New York is under the control of the revolutionary New York Provincial Congress in 1775
- 1767 - The Townshend Acts, named for Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Townshend, are passed by Parliament (June 29), placing duties on many items imported into America.
- 1769 - To the Betrayed Inhabitants of the City and Colony of New York broadside published by the local Sons of Liberty (c. December)
1770s
- 1770 - Golden Hill incident in which British troops wound civilians, including one death (January 19)
- 1770 - Lord North becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain and the domains across the Seas (January 28)
- 1770 - Boston Massacre (March 5)
- 1771 - Battle of Alamance in North Carolina (May 16)
- 1772 - Samuel Adams organizes the Committees of Correspondence
- 1772 - Gaspée Affair (June 9)
- 1772 - The Watauga Association in what would become Tennessee declares itself independent.
- 1773 - The Parliament passes the Tea Act (May 10)
- 1773 - Association of the Sons of Liberty in New York published by local Sons of Liberty (December 15)
- 1773 - Boston Tea Party (December 16)
- 1774 - Benjamin Franklin, Massachusetts' agent in London, is questioned before Parliament
- 1774 - Dunmore's War
- 1774 - British pass Intolerable Acts, including:
- Boston Port Act (March 31)
- Administration of Justice Act (May 20),
- Massachusetts Government Act (May 20),
- A second Quartering Act (June 2), and
- Quebec Act
- 1774 - The Powder Alarm, General Gage's secret raid on the Cambridge powder magazine (September 1)
- 1774 - The First Continental Congress meets; twelve colonies send delegates
- 1774 - Burning of the HMS Peggy Stewart (October 19)
- 1774 - Greenwich Tea Party (December 22)
- 1775 - Battles of Lexington and Concord (April 19)
- 1775 - Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17)
- 1775 - The Second Continental Congress meets
- 1775 - Olive Branch Petition sent to King George III
- 1776 - New Hampshire ratifies the first state constitution
- 1776 - Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense (January 10)
- 1776 - Battle of Nassau (March 2-March 3)
- 1776 - The Second Continental Congress enacts (July 2) a resolution declaring independence from the British Empire, and then approves (July 4) the written Declaration of Independence.
- 1776 - Battle of Long Island, a.k.a. Battle of Brooklyn (August 27)
- 1776 - British prison ships begin in Wallabout Bay, New York
- 1776 - Staten Island Peace Conference (September 11)
- 1776 - Landing at Kip's Bay (September 15)
- 1776 - Battle of Harlem Heights (September 16)
- 1776 - Great Fire of New York (September 21-22)
- 1776 - Nathan Hale captured and executed for espionage (September 22)
- 1776 - Battle of White Plains (October 29)
- 1776 - Battle of Fort Washington (November 16)
- 1776 - Battle of Fort Lee (November 19)
- 1776 - Battle of Iron Works Hill (December 23-December 26)
- 1776 - Battle of Trenton (December 26)
- 1777 - Second Battle of Trenton (January 2)
- 1777 - Battle of Princeton (January 3)
- 1777 - Forage War
- 1777 - Battle of Bound Brook (April 13)
- 1777 - Middlebrook encampment (May 28-July 2)
- 1777 - Delegates in Vermont, which was not one of the Thirteen Colonies, establish a republic and adopt (July 8) a constitution—the first in what is now the territory of the United States to prohibit slavery. (Vermont would become the fourteenth state in 1791.)
- 1777 - Battle of Short Hills (July 26)
- 1777 - Battle of Oriskany (August 6)
- 1777 - Battle of Brandywine (September 11)
- 1777 - Battle of Paoli (Paoli Massacre) (September 20)
- 1777 - British occupation of Philadelphia (September 26)
- 1777 - Battle of Germantown (October 4)
- 1777 - Two Battles of Saratoga (September 19 and October 7) conclude with the surrender of the British army under General Burgoyne.
- 1777 - Battle of Red Bank (October 22)
- 1777 - Articles of Confederation adopted by the Second Continental Congress (November 15)
- 1777 - Battle of White Marsh (December 5-December 8)
- 1777 - Battle of Matson's Ford (December 11)
- 1777-1778 - Continental Army in winter quarters at Valley Forge (December 19-June 19)
- 1778 - Treaty of Alliance with France (February 6)
- 1778 - Battle of Barren Hill (May 20)
- 1778 - British occupation of Philadelphia ends (June)
- 1778 - Battle of Monmouth (June 28)
- 1778-1779 - Continental Army in winter quarters at Middlebrook encampment (November 30-June 3)
- 1779 - Battle of Stony Point (July 16)
- 1779 - Battle of Paulus Hook (August 19)
- 1779 - John André captured and the treason of Benedict Arnold is exposed (September 23)
- 1779-1780 - Continental Army in winter quarterts at Morristown (December-May)
1780s
- 1780 - An attempted British invasion of New Jersey was stopped at the Battle of Connecticut Farms (June 6) and the Battle of Springfield (June 23). This was the last of major fighting in the north.
- 1780 - Battle of Kings Mountain (October 7)
- 1781 - Articles of Confederation ratified (March 1)
- 1781 - Battle of Cowpens (January 17) and Battle of Guilford Court House (March 15)
- 1781 - The British surrender at Yorktown (October 19)
- 1781 - Bank of North America chartered (December 31)
- 1782 - The British government officially, yet informally, recognizes American independence.
- 1783 - The Treaty of Paris (1783) ends the American Revolutionary War (September 3)
- 1783 - The British withdraw from ports in New York and the Carolinas
- 1784 - "The state of Frankland," later known as Franklin, secedes from North Carolina
- 1785 - Treaty of Hopewell (November 28)
- 1785 - Congress refuses admission of Franklin to the Union
- 1786 - Shays' Rebellion
- 1786 - Annapolis Convention fails
- 1787 - Northwest Ordinance of 1787
- 1787 - Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia
- 1788 - North Carolina reconquers Franklin, which ceases to exist.
- 1787 - Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey ratify the constitution
- 1788 - Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia and New York ratify the constitution
- 1789 - U.S. presidential election, 1789
- 1789 - Constitution goes into effect
- 1789 - George Washington becomes President
- 1789 - Judiciary Act of 1789
- 1789 - Hamilton tariff
- 1789 - Jay-Gardoqui Treaty
- 1789 - North Carolina ratifies the constitution
External links
| 1700-1759 | Timeline of United States history 1760–1789 |
1790-1819 |
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