介绍
In the years between 1764 and 1776, America truly became a nation. Where before America had been a cluster of competing British colonies—with differing origins, 目标, and policies—by 1776 colonists had forged a separate identity flexible enough to support not just revolution but nation building.
By investigating the lives and events recorded in newspapers, official documents and personal correspondence from our collection, you will immerse yourself in the past and discover the fears, 摩擦和动荡塑造了这个动荡的时代.
主题
糖业法案
法印战争于1763年结束. Britain has defeated France in North America, but the victory comes with a price. 留给议会的是一笔巨额债务, and the prime minister decides to share this burden with the colonies. In 1764, Parliament passes the Sugar Act, setting off a debate on colonial rights and taxation. 阅读更多 ...
印花税法案
Despite protests from colonists who believe they should be able to tax themselves, 1765年3月,议会通过了《og体育平台》. The act requires that official stamped paper be purchased and used for all legal documents, 商业票据交易, 和报纸. Colonists respond swiftly—and sometimes violently—to the act, prompting its repeal in 1766. 阅读更多 ...
自由之子的形成
作为对1765年印花税法案的回应, local groups calling themselves “Sons of Liberty” spring up throughout the American colonies. 这些组织执行许多功能, ranging from organizing protests against the Stamp Act to keeping citizens in line. They continue to influence their communities long after the Stamp Act is repealed in 1766. 阅读更多...
汤森法案
糖业和印花税法案失败后, Parliament is determined to prove its right to tax the American colonies. 1767年,国会通过了汤森法案. Colonists continue to argue against taxation without representation, even as troops are sent to protect customs employees in Boston in 1768. 阅读更多...
非消费和非进口
1767年,殖民地经济状况不佳. 汤森法案的通过, 哪个项目对包括玻璃在内的物品征收关税, 油漆, 和茶, 只会让事情变得更糟. 在回应, many colonists refuse to consume or purchase British goods, while encouraging merchants to abandon selling British imports. The movement falters, however, when the Acts are partially repealed in 1770. 阅读更多...
波士顿大屠杀
Tensions are on the rise in Boston in the winter of 1770. 3月5日, a violent confrontation erupts between soldiers and townspeople, 造成五名殖民者死亡. The propaganda war that follows will consume Bostonians throughout the summer and fall of 1770. 阅读更多...
通讯委员会的组成
The Boston Committee of Correspondence plays a crucial role in the growth of the committee of correspondence movement throughout the colonies. Formed in 1772 to protest a new government policy concerning the payment of the Massachusetts governor and judges, 波士顿人向其他城镇和殖民地寻求支持. 1773年3月, the Virginia House of Burgesses proposes that each colony appoint a committee for intercolonial correspondence. 阅读更多...
波士顿倾茶事件
1773年春天,议会通过了《og体育平台》, giving the East India Company a monopoly over the sale of tea in North America. 一些爱国者拒绝喝或买茶, while others take more drastic steps to prevent the sale of the “pernicious weed.” Bostonians stage a rather dramatic protest in December 1773, og体育平台他们行为的争论一直持续到1774年. 阅读更多...s
强制行为
1774年春天, Parliament passes the Coercive Acts in response to the destruction of the East India’s tea cargo in Boston in December 1773. 马萨诸塞州和波士顿被挑出来惩罚, 但这些行为并没有产生预期的效果. 从1774年一直到1775年, the other North American colonies question the wisdom of Parliament’s reaction. 阅读更多...
第一届大陆会议
News of the Coercive Acts arrives in the colonies in the spring of 1774. 在回应, patriots organize a colony-wide congress to discuss a united course of resistance. 第一届大陆会议 meets in September and October 1774. Colonists continue to debate the course of action prescribed by Congress throughout fall and winter of 1775. 阅读更多...
列克星敦和康科德
在1774年秋天, General Thomas Gage—now the governor of Massachusetts—begins sending his troops on scouting missions into the countryside surrounding Boston. One such mission sparks a violent confrontation on 19 April 1775. Both British and American propagandists hasten to explain their side of story in the months that follow. 阅读更多...
第二届大陆会议
1774年10月,第一届大陆会议休会, and by the spring of 1775 it is clear that the body must convene once again. 马萨诸塞州爆发了战争, and the colonies must now consider the question of American independence. Their debates lead to decisive action in the spring of 1776. 阅读更多...
邦克山战役
The British retreat to Boston after the confrontations at 列克星敦和康科德 on 19 April 1775. 6月, American troops fortify Breed’s Hill in nearby Charlestown. 两股势力在1775年6月17日发生冲突. Although the British are ultimately victorious, both sides suffer devastating casualties. 阅读更多...
华盛顿开始指挥大陆军
Early battles of the Revolution are fought mainly by New England troops. 如果各殖民地要联合起来作战, 然后他们必须有一个所有人都同意的领导人, and George Washington is the Congress’ choice for commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. 1775年7月,他到达波士顿, and works tirelessly to expel the British from Boston in the winter and spring of 1776. 阅读更多...
独立宣言
第二届大陆会议 meets in Philadelphia in the spring and summer of 1776, debating the question of American independence while also waging war with Great Britain. 6月, a committee is organized to draft the document that will shape the course of American history. 阅读更多...