| Year |
Date |
Event |
| 1760 |
|
George II succeeded by King George III |
| 1764-1770 |
|
American colonists boycott English goods in opposition to Britain’s taxation policies |
| 1773 |
December 16 |
‘Boston Tea Party’: activists throw tea chests from ships moored in Boston harbour in protest at duties imposed on tea |
| 1774 |
|
British parliament passes various Coercive Acts aimed at restoring order in the American colonies. First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia |
| 1775 |
April 19 |
Exchange of gunfire between British troops and colonists at Lexington, Massachusetts, marks the start of the Revolutionary War. The British, under General Gage, destroy the colonists’ weapons at Concord, then retreat to Boston where they are besieged |
| |
May |
American troops capture Fort Ticonderoga, New York. Major General William Howe, Major General Henry Clinton and Lieutenant General John Burgoyne arrive in Boston |
| |
June 15 |
Second Continental Congress at Philadelphia appoints George Washington as general of the Continental Army |
| |
June 17 |
Battle of Bunker Hill near Boston |
| 1776 |
March |
American troops take the Dorchester Peninsula. The British evacuate Boston for Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| |
May |
France and Spain offer assistance to the Americans |
| |
June |
Clinton’s attack on Charlestown, South Carolina, is defeated. Massive British naval force gathers at New York |
| |
July 4 |
Declaration of Independence |
| |
August 27-30 |
Battle of Long Island |
| |
November |
Howe captures Fort Washington |
| |
December 6 |
Clinton captures Newport, Rhode Island |
| 1777 |
June |
British army under General Burgoyne takes Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain |
| |
August 16 |
Battle of Bennington |
| |
September |
Howe captures Philadelphia |
| |
October |
Burgoyne defeated at the Battle of Saratoga. France recognises America’s independence |
| 1778 |
February |
France signs the Treaty of Alliance with the Americans |
| |
May 8 |
Clinton replaces Howe as Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in America |
| |
June |
Clinton evacuates the army from Philadelphia in order to reinforce New York |
| |
June 28 |
Battle of Monmouth, N.J. |
| |
July |
France declares war on Britain. French naval fleet arrives under Admiral D’Estaign |
| |
December |
British troops capture Savannah, Georgia |
| 1779 |
September-October |
Siege of Savannah. Americans suffer large number of casualties |
| |
December 29 |
Clinton’s army leaves New York for Charlestown, South Carolina, arriving in the area in February 1780 |
| 1780 |
May 12 |
Clinton captures Charlestown after a three month campaign |
| |
June 5 |
Clinton leaves Charlestown for New York; leaves General Charles Cornwallis in charge in South Carolina |
| |
July |
French troops under Count de Rochambeau arrive at Newport, Rhode Island |
| |
August 16 |
General Cornwallis’s troops defeat the Americans at the Battle of Camden, South Carolina |
| |
October 7 |
British defeated at the Battle of King’s Mountain |
| 1781 |
January 17 |
British defeated at the Battle of Cowpens |
| |
March |
Skirmish between Cornwallis’s troops and those of General Lafayette. Cornwallis moves towards Virginia |
| |
May |
American and French commanders agree on an assault against New York |
| |
August |
Cornwallis arrives at Yorktown, Virginia |
| |
September 5 |
British naval defeat at the Battle of the Chesapeake Capes. French fleet under de Grasse blockades Cornwallis at Yorktown |
| |
October 19 |
Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown |
| |
October 24 |
Clinton arrives off the Chesapeake |
| 1782 |
February |
The British Parliament votes against further war in America |
| |
March |
Lord North resigns as Prime Minister. The new Prime Minister, Lord Rockingham, opens peace negotiations with America |
| |
May |
Clinton replaced as Commander-in-Chief by Sir Guy Carleton |
| |
November 30 |
Preliminary peace treaty signed |
| 1783 |
September 3 |
Treaty of Paris brings an end to the war. Britain recognizes America as an independent country |