Read The American Revolution: A History Online

Authors: Gordon S. Wood

Tags: #History

The American Revolution: A History

BOOK: The American Revolution: A History
10.25Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Contents

Title Page

Acknowledgments

List of Maps

Chronology

Maps

Preface

I. ORIGINS

The Growth and Movement of Population

Economic Expansion

Reform of the British Empire

II. AMERICAN RESISTANCE

British Reaction

Deepening of the Crisis

The Imperial Debate

III. REVOLUTION

The Approach to Independence

The Declaration of Independence

An Asylum for Liberty

IV. CONSTITUTION-MAKING AND WAR

The State Constitutions

The Articles of Confederation

The War for Independence

V. REPUBLICANISM

The Need for Virtue

The Rising Glory of America

Equality

A New World Order

VI. REPUBLICAN SOCIETY

Effects of the War

Effects of the Revolution

Republican Reforms

Antislavery

Republican Religion

VII. THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION

The Critical Period

The Philadelphia Convention

The Federalist–Anti-Federalist Debate

Bibliographic Note

Modern Library Chronicles

The Modern Library Editorial Board

About the Author

Copyright Page

Acknowledgments

My thanks to Scott Moyers of Random House and to my wife Louise and my daughter Amy for their expert editorial assistance. My thanks also to Houghton Mifflin for permission to use portions of my section of
The Great Republic
by Bernard Bailyn et al.

Pattern of Settlement in the Colonies, 1760

Northern Campaigns, 1775–1776

Northern Campaigns, 1777

Yorktown and the Southern Campaigns, 1778–1781

Chronology

1763

February 10
The French and Indian War ends with the Peace of Paris
October 7
The Proclamation of 1763 bans all westward migration in the colonies
May–November
Chief Pontiac leads an Indian rebellion in the Ohio Valley

1764

April 5 and 9
Parliament passes the Sugar and Currency Acts

1765

March 22
Parliament passes the Stamp Act
May 15
Parliament passes the Quartering Act of 1765
October 7
The Stamp Act Congress convenes

1766

March 18
Parliament repeals the Stamp Act and passes the Declaratory Act

1767

June 29
Parliament passes the Townshend Acts
November 5
John Dickinson’s
Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania
begins publication

1768

February 11
Samuel Adams composes the Massachusetts “circular letter”
June 8
British troops are sent to Boston

1770

March 5
Boston Massacre
April 12
The Townshend duties are repealed, except for the duty on tea

1772

June 9
The British ship
Gaspée
burned off Rhode Island
November 2
Bostonians publish
The Votes and Proceedings
, enumerating British violations of American rights

1773

January 6
Massachusetts governor Hutchinson argues the supremacy of Parliament before the General Court
May 10
Parliament passes the Tea Act
December 16
Boston Tea Party

1774

March 31–June 22
Parliament passes the Coercive Acts and the Quebec Act
September 5–
October 26
First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia

1775

April 18
Paul Revere’s ride
April 19
Battles of Lexington and Concord
May 10
American forces capture Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain
May 10
Second Continental Congress convenes
June 15
George Washington is appointed commander of the Continental Army
June 17
Battle of Bunker Hill
August 23
King George III declares the colonies in open rebellion
December 31
Colonists are defeated at Quebec

1776

January 10
Thomas Paine publishes
Common Sense
March 17
British troops evacuate Boston
July 4
Continental Congress approves the Declaration of Independence
August 27
Battle of Long Island, New York; British take New York City
December 25–26
Washington crosses the Delaware River; battle of Trenton

1777

January 3
Battle of Princeton
September 11
Battle of Brandywine
October 4
Washington is defeated at Germantown; his army retires to Valley Forge for winter
October 17
British general Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga
November 15
Articles of Confederation are approved by Congress and sent to states for ratification

1778

February 6
France and the United States form an alliance

1780

May 12
British capture Charleston, South Carolina
September 25
Benedict Arnold flees to the British after spying for them for more than a year
October 7
British general Cornwallis’s troops are forced to retreat from North Carolina

1781

January 17
Battle of Cowpens, South Carolina
March 1
Articles of Confederation are ratified
March 15
Battle of Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina
October 19
Cornwallis surrenders to Washington at Yorktown, Pennsylvania

1783

September 3
Treaty of Peace between the Americans and British is signed

1786

August
Shays’s Rebellion in western Massachusetts
September 11
Annapolis Convention

1787

May 25
Constitutional Convention opens in Philadelphia
July 13
Northwest Ordinance is enacted by Congress
September 17
Constitutional Convention approves the newly drafted Constitution and sends it to Congress
October 27
First of Hamilton, Madison, and Jay’s
Federalist Papers
appears

BOOK: The American Revolution: A History
10.25Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Undeniably Yours by Shannon Stacey
Siege of Pailtar by Robyn Wideman
El Círculo Platónico by Mariano Gambín
Soul Seeker by Keith McCarthy
Shiver by Alex Nye
Red Moon by Elizabeth Kelly
QuarterLifeFling by Clare Murray
Murder In Chinatown by Victoria Thompson