175463, French and Indian War

Key Figures170690, Benjamin Franklin

171076, Richard Bland171180,Thomas Hutchinson

171270, George Grenville172193, Roger Sherman

17221803, Samuel Adams172292, John Burgoyne172297, Daniel Dulaney

172391, Richard Price172592, George Mason

172583, James Otis172567, Charles Townshend17281814, Mercy Otis Warren

173094, Friedrich Wilhelm, Baron von Steuben17301809, John Murray, Lord Dunmore

17311806, Benjamin Banneker17321808, John Dickinson

173294, Richard Henry Lee173292, Frederick (Lord) North

173299, George Washington17341806, Robert Morris

17351826, John Adams17351818, Paul Revere173699, Patrick Henry

17371809, Thomas Paine17381805, Charles Cornwallis

17381820, George III17411801, Benedict Arnold17411821, William Findley

17411827, Charles Willson Peale17421807, Joseph Brant174298, James Wilson

17431826, Thomas Jefferson174498, Melancton Smith

17451829, John Jay17461817, Tadeusz Kosciuszko174680, Esther De Berdt Reed

174792, John Paul Jones17491815, David Ramsay17511836, James Madison

17521818, George Rogers Clark17521816, Gouverneur Morris

17521836, Betsy Ross17521827, St. George Tucker

17531824, John Taylor17551804, Alexander Hamilton

17551835, John Marshall17561836, Aaron Burr

17571834, Marquis de Lafayette17581808, Fisher Ames

17581831, James Monroe

George III

Map of 13 original colonies (undated)

1750 1755 1760 1765 1770 1775 1780 1785 1790 1795 1800 1805 1810

Peace of Paris gives Canada and Florida to Great Britain Proclamation Act prohibits western colonial expansion British imperial reform begins with Sugar Act Eight colonies petition Crown to repeal Sugar Act Stamp Act provokes widespread rioting and protests Quartering Act forces colonists to house and supply army 1766 Parliament repeals Stamp Act 1767 Townshend Acts call for new import levies 1768 Colonists in Boston initiate nonimportation agreements against British Boston MassacreBritish soldiers fire on crowd, killing five

Boston Massacre, 1770

British stamps of colonial legal and commercial documents

1763

1764

1765

1750 1755 1760 1765 1770 1775 1780 1785 1790 1795 1800 1805 1810

1760 George III crowned Patriot King

George Washington

Signing of Constitution, 1787

Paul Revere monument in Boston

2007 Liberty Fund, Inc.8335 Allison Pointe Trail, Suite 300Indianapolis, Indiana 46250-1684

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.

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.

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.

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.

For more information about Liberty Fund books or to order titles on the American Founding, visit our online catalog at www.libertyfund.org.

Shayss RebellionDaniel Shays leads Massachusetts farmers to seize Springfield Armory Northwest Ordinance provides for admission of new states and bars slavery in Northwest Territory Delegates meet in Philadelphia to draft new constitution Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania forbid participation in slave trade Congress announces Constitution ratified July 2 1789 Washington inaugurated president; first Congress convenes; Jefferson first secretary of state; Hamilton first secretary of the treasury; John Jay first chief justice 1790 Hamilton funds Revolutionary debt and proposes Bank of the U.S.

Cornwallis surrenders to Washington at Yorktown States ratify Articles of Confederation 1782 Virginia statute eases manumission of slaves Treaty of Paris recognizes American independence Maryland joins northern states in outlawing slave trade Massachusetts Supreme Court rules slavery unconstitutional Treaty of Fort Stanwix opens up Ohio River Valley for settlement Connecticut and Rhode Island adopt gradual emancipation Bank of New York founded 1786 Virginia adopts Statute for Religious Freedom

Timeline of Key Figures and Events of the American Founding

Parliament repeals Townshend Acts, leaving tax on tea Virginia initiates intercolonial committees of correspondence Boston Tea PartyTea Act prompts patriots to dump tea cargo in Boston Harbor Parliament responds to colonists rebellion with Coercive Acts First Continental Congress gathers in Philadelphia Resolution in Congress urging end to slave trade Shot heard round the world fired at Lexington First abolition society organized by Philadelphians Second Continental Congress gathers in Philadelphia George Washington named commander-in-chief of Continental Army Thomas Paines Common Sense calls for independence

Congress declares independenceContinental Army spends winter at Valley Forge Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga Congress proposes Articles of Confederation 1778 Congress ratifies Treaty of Alliance with France 1780 Pennsylvania passes gradual abolition law, first in world

1781

1783

1784

Boston Tea Party, 1773

Thomas Jefferson

Washington sides with Hamilton on establishment of Bank of the U.S.Vermont enters Union with constitution banning slaveryBill of Rights ratifiedExcise tax on whiskey passed by Congress Kentucky enters Union as first new slave state Formation of New York Stock Exchange Congress passes law for recovery of fugitive slaves Washington declares America neutral in European conflict Jay Treaty negotiated with Britain Whiskey Rebellion against excise tax put down in western Pennsylvania 1795 Treaty of Greenville sets new boundaries for tribes in Ohio Territory 1796 Washington gives farewell address; Adams elected president; Jefferson elected vice president 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts prompt Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions 1799 New York abolishes slavery 1800 Jefferson wins presidency Adams appoints John Marshall chief justice Jefferson appoints Madison secretary of state

178788 Federalist

Papers appear in newspapers

urging ratification of Constitution

1791

1792

1794

1801

1787

17801800 Freed slaves establish churches, libraries, and charities

1776

1777

1774

1775

1788

Fight during Shayss Rebellion, 1787

179196 Jefferson and Madison

form opposition to Federalists

1793

Treaty of Paris, 1783

1770

1773