1750

1755

1760

1765

1770

1775

1780

1785

1790

1795

1800

1805

1810

Timeline of Key Figures and Events

of the American Founding

175463, French and Indian War

Peace of Paris gives Canada and Florida to Great Britain


1763

Proclamation Act prohibits western colonial expansion





1764 British imperial reform begins with Sugar Act
Eight colonies petition Crown to repeal Sugar Act





Stamp Act provokes widespread rioting and protests

III


George
1760
1765
British stamps of colonial
Quartering Act forces colonists to house and supply army

Patriot

King

crowned
legal and commercial documents
1766Parliament repeals Stamp Act






1767Townshend Acts call for new import levies







1768Colonists in Boston initiate nonimportation agreements against British








Boston MassacreBritish soldiers fire on crowd, killing five









1770

Parliament repeals Townshend Acts, leaving tax on tea

Treaty of Paris, 1783
Virginia initiates intercolonial committees of correspondence


1773

Boston Tea PartyTea Act prompts patriots to dump tea cargo in Boston Harbor
George III




Parliament responds to colonists rebellion with Coercive Acts





First Continental Congress gathers in Philadelphia



1774

170690, Benjamin Franklin

Resolution in Congress urging end to slave trade
171076, Richard Bland






Shot heard round the world fired at Lexington
171180,Thomas Hutchinson






First abolition society organized by Philadelphians
1775
171270, George Grenville






Second Continental Congress gathers in Philadelphia
172193, Roger Sherman






George Washington named commander-in-chief of Continental Army
17221803, Samuel Adams
Thomas Paines Common Sense calls for independence







172292, John Burgoyne
172297, Daniel Dulaney
172391, Richard Price
Continental Army spends winter at Valley Forge
172592, George Mason
Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga

1777
172583, James Otis
Congress proposes Articles of Confederation

172567, Charles Townshend
1778Congress ratifies Treaty of Alliance with France

Signing of Constitution, 1787
17281814, Mercy Otis Warren
1780Pennsylvania passes gradual abolition law, first in world



173094, Friedrich Wilhelm, Baron von Steuben
17801800Freed slaves establish churches, libraries, and charities
17301809, John Murray, Lord Dunmore

Cornwallis surrenders to Washington at Yorktown
17311806, Benjamin Banneker
1781
States ratify Articles of Confederation


17321808, John Dickinson
1782Virginia statute eases manumission of slaves


173294, Richard Henry Lee
Paul Revere monument in Boston
Treaty of Paris recognizes American independence




173292, Frederick (Lord) North
Maryland joins northern states in outlawing slave trade


1783

173299, George Washington
Massachusetts Supreme Court rules slavery unconstitutional




17341806, Robert Morris
Treaty of Fort Stanwix opens up Ohio River Valley for settlement





17351826, John Adams
George Washington
Connecticut and Rhode Island adopt gradual emancipation
17351818, Paul Revere



1784


Bank of New York founded
173699, Patrick Henry
17371809, Thomas Paine

1786Virginia adopts Statute for Religious Freedom
17381805, Charles Cornwallis



Shayss RebellionDaniel Shays leads Massachusetts farmers to seize Springfield Armory
1787
17381820, George III



Northwest Ordinance provides for admission of new states and bars slavery in Northwest Territory
17411801, Benedict Arnold



Delegates meet in Philadelphia to draft new constitution
17411821, William Findley

Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania forbid participation in slave trade



Boston Massacre, 1770
1788
17411827, Charles Willson Peale

Congress announces Constitution ratified July 2
17421807, Joseph Brant
1789Washington inaugurated president; first Congress convenes; Jefferson first secretary




174298, James Wilson

of state; Hamilton first secretary of the treasury; John Jay first chief justice
17431826, Thomas Jefferson

1790Hamilton funds Revolutionary debt and proposes Bank of the U.S.
178788

174498, Melancton Smith

Washington sides with Hamilton on establishment of Bank of the U.S.
Federalist
17451829, John Jay
1791 Vermont enters Union with constitution banning slavery
Papers appear
17461817, Tadeusz Kosciuszko
Bill of Rights ratified
in newspapers
174680, Esther De Berdt Reed
urging
Excise tax on whiskey passed by Congress
174792, John Paul Jones
ratification of
Kentucky enters Union as first new slave state

1792
17491815, David Ramsay
Constitution
Formation of New York Stock Exchange

17511836, James Madison
Congress passes law for recovery of fugitive slaves


Thomas Jefferson
17521818, George Rogers Clark
1793

Washington declares America neutral in European conflict
17521816, Gouverneur Morris

17521836, Betsy Ross
1794 Jay Treaty negotiated with Britain

Whiskey Rebellion against excise tax put down in western Pennsylvania
17521827, St. George Tucker
Boston Tea Party, 1773
1795Treaty of Greenville sets new boundaries for tribes in Ohio Territory



17531824, John Taylor
1796Washington gives farewell address; Adams elected president; Jefferson




17551804, Alexander Hamilton

elected vice president
17551835, John Marshall
Map of 13 original colonies (undated)
1798Alien and Sedition Acts prompt Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
17561836, Aaron Burr

179196




17571834, Marquis de Lafayette
1799New York abolishes slavery
Jefferson
and
Madison




17581808, Fisher Ames
1800Jefferson wins presidency
form opposition

to



17581831, James Monroe

Adams appoints John Marshall chief justice
Federalists
Fight during Shayss Rebellion, 1787
1801

Jefferson appoints Madison secretary of state

Key Figures

1776 Congress declares independence

1750

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8335 Allison Pointe Trail, Suite 300
Indianapolis, Indiana 46250-1684

1755

1760

1765

1770
Signing of the United States Constitution Bettmann/CORBIS.
Portrait of George III, King of Great Britain and Ireland Enthroned Bettmann/CORBIS.
Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull Archivo Iconografico, S.A./CORBIS.
Fisher Ames by John Francis Eugene Prudhomme Stapleton Collection/CORBIS.
Map of the 13 Original American Colonies Bettmann/CORBIS.
Illustration of a Fight during Shayss Rebellion Bettmann/CORBIS.

1775

1780

George Washington in Militia by Charles Willson Peale Bettmann/CORBIS.

Boston Massacre, March 5th, 1770 Illustration Bettmann/CORBIS.
1732 Map of Charleston, South Carolina Bettmann/CORBIS.
19th-Century Engraving of a Portrait of President John Adams Bettmann/CORBIS.
Unite or Die, American Revolutionary War Motto Bettmann/CORBIS.
Benjamin Franklin by Joseph Wright The Corcoran Gallery of Art/CORBIS.

1785
Treaty of Paris, 1783 CORBIS.
British Stamps for American Colony Goods Bettmann/CORBIS.
Early-19th-Century American Portrait of President James Madison Geoffrey
Clements/CORBIS.
Portrait of Mercy Otis Warren Bettmann/CORBIS.
Original Declaration of Independence Joseph Sohm; Visions of America/CORBIS.

1790

1795

Title Page to Common Sense by Thomas Paine Bettmann/CORBIS.

Paul Revere Monument Dave Bartruff/CORBIS.
Portrait of Thomas Jefferson by Gilbert Stuart Burstein Collection/CORBIS.
The Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor by Nathaniel Currier Bettmann/CORBIS.
William Findley by Rembrandt Peale, from life, 1805, used by permission of
Independence National Historical Park.

1800

1805

1810

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