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In Boston, men like Samuel Adams and John Hancock kept the colonists in a constant state of agitation against British rule. In the surrounding countryside, groups of armed colonists prepared to fight if necessary.
They stored gunpowder and other supplies in Concord, a village northwest of Boston. On the night of April 18, 1775, British soldiers quietly marched out of Boston. Colonial leaders assumed they were going to Concord to seize military supplies. Riders Paul Revere and William Dawes were sent on separate routes to spread the word throughout the countryside. Revere stopped in Lexington to warn Adams and Hancock that the British might be looking for them. When the British arrived in Lexington on April 19, the minutemen were waiting for them. As the two groups faced each other, a shot rang out. No one knows for certain which side fired it. It was called “the shot heard ’round the world.” The American Revolution had begun!
◀ April 19, 1775
The Battles of Lexington and Concord are fought.
May 1775 ▶
The Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia to draw up war plans. It establishes an army and appoints George Washington commander-in-chief.
◀ June 17, 1775
The Americans make a bold stand at the Battle of Bunker Hill, in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The British win the battle, but they suffer huge casualties.
March 17, 1776 ▶
The British evacuate Boston, taking 1,000 Loyalists with them to Nova Scotia.
◀ July 4, 1776
The Declaration of Independence is signed in Philadelphia.
August 1776 ▶
After defeating Washington’s troops, the British gain control of New York City for the rest of the war.
◀ December 25–26, 1776
Washington and some 400 scruffy, poorly equipped soldiers cross the Delaware River and surprise the British and their Hessian mercenaries at Trenton, New Jersey, giving the American cause new hope.
August 1777 ▶
British General Howe defeats Washington’s troops at Brandywine Creek and Germantown, Pennsylvania, and proceeds to capture Philadelphia.
◀ October 17, 1777
British General Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga, New York, ending a British effort to separate New England from the other colonies. This American victory is considered the turning point of the war.
February 1778 ▶
The Americans sign military and political treaties with France, bringing Britain’s longtime enemy into the war on their side.
◀ Winter 1778
Washington and his troops spend a harsh winter at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
June 28, 1778
Neither side wins a clear victory at the Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey. But the British give up on holding the North and turn their attention to the South, where there are more Loyalists.
1780
The British gain control of Georgia and South Carolina but fail to take North Carolina. British General Cornwallis fights his way to Yorktown, Virginia.
1781
A French fleet defeats British ships coming to Cornwallis’s aid and enters Chesapeake Bay, bottling up Cornwallis at Yorktown.
◀ October 19, 1781
Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown.
September 3, 1783 ▶
The British and Americans sign a peace treaty in Paris, France.
◀ November 1783
The Continental Army is officially disbanded.
Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow made a hero of Paul Revere in a poem called Paul Revere's Ride. It’s often mistakenly called “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.” But in fact, Revere never finished his ride. He and Dawes met in Lexington and set out for Concord with a Dr. Prescott, who was on his way home. Some British officers surprised them between Lexington and Concord. Revere was captured, Dawes was thrown from his horse, and Dr. Prescott was the one who warned the Concord minutemen to prepare for a British attack. ▶
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▲ During the war, British Royal Navy ships patrolled coastal waters, supplying the redcoats with whatever was needed, including more troops.
