timeline

	*King George III ascends to the throne of England.*
	*Treaty signed between England and France ending the French and Indian War. Canada and the continent east of the Mississippi River added to Great Britain's growing empire.*
	*Parliament passes The Stamp Act as a means to pay for British troops on the American frontier. Colonists violently protest the measure.*
	*March 18.* *Stamp Act repealed, but on the same day parliament passes the Declaratory Act asserting its right to make laws binding on the colonies.*
	*October.* *British troops arrive in Boston to enforce customs laws.*
	*March.* *Four workers shot by British troops stationed in Boston. Patriots label the killings "The Boston Massacre."*
	*December.* *Massachusetts patriots dressed as Mohawk Indians protest the British Tea Act by dumping crates of tea into Boston Harbor.*
	*January.* *The Privy Council reprimands* *Benjamin Franklin in London for leaking letters damaging to the Royal Governor of Massachusetts.* *September.* *First Continental* *Congress convenes in Philadelphia.*
	*April.* *Shots fired at Lexington and Concord. "Minute Men" force British troops back to Boston.* *George Washington takes command of the Continental Army.*
	*January.* *Thomas Paine's Common Sense published. Becomes an instant best seller and pushes the colonies closer to independence.* *July 4.* *Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence ratified by the Congress.* *July.* *A huge British force arrives in New York harbor bent on crushing the rebellion.* *August.* *Continental Army routed at Long Island, New York.* *December 26.* *Washington crosses the Delaware River and captures a Hessian force at Trenton, New Jersey.* *December.* *In desperate need of financing and arms, Congress sends Benjamin Franklin to France to urge the French to ally with America.*
	*July.* *A British force led by John Burgoyne takes Fort* *Ticonderoga in a devastating loss to the Americans. The Marquis de Lafayette arrives in America.* *Washington defeated at Brandywine (September 11) and Germantown (October 4). Philadelphia is lost to the British.* *October 17.* *Americans capture Burgoyne and his army at Saratoga.*
	*February.* *France signs a treaty of alliance with the United States and the American Revolution becomes a world war.*
	*British attack Charleston, South Carolina. City falls in May.* *1780-'81 -* *Americans "lose" series of engagements in the south, but exact a heavy toll on the British army.*
	*African-American Elizabeth Freeman sues for her freedom in Massachusetts. Her victory prohibits slavery in that state.* *October 19.* *A miraculous convergence of American and French forces traps Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. He surrenders his British army.*
	*September.* *A peace treaty is signed between Great Britain and the United States.* *December.* *George Washington gives up command of the Continental Army and, to astonishment of* *foreign observers, returns to private life.* *1783-'87 -* *Noah Webster creates and publishes a speller which helps standardlize American English.*
	*1785-'86 -* *Treaty talks with Spain for rights to navigate the Mississippi fail because of regional conflicts between northern and southern states.*
	*1786-'87 -* *Shay's Rebellion, an armed insurrection of debt-ridden farmers in Massachusetts, quashed by the state militia.*
	*Northwest Ordinance adopted by Confederation* *Congress. Prohibits slavery in territories and provides a means for new states to enter the union.* *May* *Delegates from all 13 states arrive in Philadelphia to rewrite the Articles of Confederation.* *September 18.* *The Constitutional Convention adjourns having passed a National Constitution that needs ratification from 3/4 of the states.*
	*The crucial states of Virginia (June 25) and New York (July 26) become the 10th and 11th states to pass the Constitution.*
	*December.* *A Bill of Rights passed by the 1st Congress of the United States.*