The timeline for the American Revolution between 1763-1776 is as follows:

1763

• On February 10th, the Treaty of Paris is signed ending the French and Indian War.
• In May the first attack of Pontiac’s Rebellion occur
• On October 7th, King George III issues a Royal Proclamation, which is known as the Proclamation Act.

1764

• On April 5th, British parliament passes the Sugar Act.
• On September 1st, London passes the Currency Act.

1765

• On March 22nd, British parliament passes the Stamp Act. to raise revenue from American colonies. The Act itself was to come into operation in November.
• On May 3rd, Parliament passes a Quartering Act.
• In May, the Virginia assembly convenes to discuss the Stamp Act. Patrick Henry leads an opposition motion with the Stamp Act Resolves.
• On October 19th, delegates from nine colonies attend a Stamp Act Congress in New York, issuing a ‘Declaration of Rights and Grievances’.
• During December groups in Boston begin referring to themselves as ‘Sons of Liberty’

1766

• In March, the British parliament formally repeals the Stamp Act.
• On the same day, parliament passes the Declaratory Act.

1767

• On June 15th, British parliament passes the ‘Townshend duties’.
• On July 2nd, the Suspending Act is passed by British parliament leading to the suspension of the New York colonial assembly until it met its financial obligations with the Crown.

1768

• In February, Boston radical Sam Adams issues a ‘Circular Letter’ encouraging the colonies to resist the Townshend duties
• In September, two regiments of British soldiers arrive in Boston to keep order.

1770

•  On March 5th, the Boston Massacre occurs.

1772

• In June, the British customs ship Gaspee runs ashore on Rhode Island, where it is boarded by locals and burned to the waterline
• In November, a Boston town meeting, led by Samuel Adams, decides to form a 21-man Committee of Correspondence

1773

• On May 10th, British parliament passes the Tea Act.
• On December 16th, the Boston Tea Party – a small band raids the three ships and tips 342 crates of tea into Boston Harbour.

1774

• On March 31st, the first Coercive Act, the Boston Port Act.
• On May 20th, a further two coercive acts, the Massachusetts Government Act and the Administration of Justice Act.
• On June 2nd, another Quartering Act is passed.
• On June 22nd, British parliament passes the Quebec Act.
• On September 5th, a Continental Congress meets to consider the ramifications of the Coercive Acts and decide on a course of action.

1775

• On March 23rd, Patrick Henry delivers an anti-British speech in which he declares “Give me liberty or give me death!”
• On April 19th, Colonial militiamen skirmish with British troops at Lexington and Concord, with more than 120 men killed on both sides
• In May, the second Continental Congress convenes, on the same day that American forces capture the British fort Ticonderoga
• In June, the Continental Congress appoints George Washington as commander-in-chief of the newly-formed Continental Army
• On June 17th, the Battle of Bunker Hill occurs leading to a costly win for the British
• On July 5th, Continental Congress passes the ‘Olive Branch petition’, a last attempt to reconcile and make peace with England
• On July 6th, Congress issues the ‘Declaration on the Causes and Necessities for taking up arms’, a document justifying defensive war

1776

• In January, Thomas Paine’s ‘Common Sense’ is published and begins to circulate around the American colonies
• On July 4th, the ‘Declaration of Independence’ is adopted by the Continental Congress.