Acts of Aggravation
Passed in 1765, this British revenue act placed a direct tax on paper goods, affecting legal documents, newspapers, pamphlets, and playing cards
Stamp Act
Inspired by John Locke's philosophy, this principal drafter of the Declaration of Independence declared that all men have unalienable rights to "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"
Thomas Jefferson
At dawn on April 19, 1775, 70 militiamen met British soldiers in this town, where Captain John Parker famously instructed, "if they mean to have a war, let it begin here"
Lexington
This 1781 battle saw the decisive final victory of the Revolutionary War, secured with critical aid from French forces on land and at sea
Battle of Yorktown
Passed by Congress in 1777 and accepted by all states by 1781, this document established a "firm league of friendship" with weak national tax and trade powers
Article of Confederation
Passed in 1764, this act banned the use of colonial paper money, creating economic hardship due to the colonies' limited access to gold and silver
Currency Act
Nominated by John Adams to unify the Northern and Southern colonies, he was unanimously appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in June 1775
George Washington
Fought on June 17, 1775, this battle resulted in 1,054 British casualties, leading General George Clinton to characterize it as a "Pyrrhic" victory
Battle of Bunker Hill
This military figure brought strict drill skills, a showy presence, and strategic eyes to Valley Forge, helping transform the Continental Army into a "military powerhouse"
Baron von Steuben
Only this number of states sent representatives to the Annapolis Convention in September 1786 to discuss defects in the federal system
5
Enacted in 1774 to punish Massachusetts after the Boston Tea Party, these four legislative acts closed Boston Port and placed the colony under martial law
Coercive (intolerable) Acts
He authored the January 1776 pamphlet Common Sense, which sold as many as 100,000 copies and famously referred to King George III as the "Royal Brute of Britain"
Thomas Paine
Operating as information networks, these bodies distributed news and revolutionary pamphlets across the colonies, leading historian Bernard Bailyn to write that they "brought the American nation to life"
Committees of Correspondence
Thomas Paine published this famous pamphlet series during the early days of the revolution to boost morale, opening with the phrase "THESE are the times that try men's souls"
The American Crisis
Written under the pseudonym "Publius" by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, this collection of 85 essays argued for ratifying the Constitution
Federalist Papers
Authored by Samuel Adams in February 1768, this document argued that the Townshend Duties were unconstitutional because colonists were not represented in Parliament
Circular Letter
During the Stamp Act protests in August 1765, an angry Boston mob violently broke into and ransacked the home of this Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
Thomas Hutchinson
Occurring in September 1774 when General Gage secretly seized gunpowder storehouses, these incidents spread false rumors of war and prompted minutemen to gather and hide weapons
Powder Alarms
Enacted in 1778, this Massachusetts law exiled over 300 Loyalists from the state
This controversial constitutional formula determined how enslaved populations would be counted for both direct taxation and legislative representation
3/5ths clause
On December 16, 1773, Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk warriors boarded three ships in Boston Harbor and dumped this exact number of tea chests into the ocean
342 Chests
After his ship Liberty was seized by customs officials in 1768, this wealthy merchant became President of the Second Continental Congress and signed his name prominently on the Declaration of Independence
John Hancock
Adopted on April 12, 1776, by the North Carolina Provincial Congress, this was the first formal action by a colonial assembly to explicitly recommend independence from Great Britain
Halifax Resolves
Women who participated directly in fighting on the battlefield during the war earned this iconic collective nickname
Molly Pitcher
Passed in 1787, this ordinance set out civil rights and governing rules for new western territory while explicitly banning slavery within the region
Northwest Ordinance