Delegates sign the Declaration of Independence
Members of Congress affixed their signatures to an enlarged copy of the Declaration of Independence a month after Congress had approved the declaration of independence …
UK / Britain
King George Establishes ‘The American Prohibitory Act’, Forbidding the Americans from All Trade and Commerce
American Prohibitory Act “It throws thirteen colonies out of the royal protection, levels all distinctions, and makes us independent in spite of our supplications and …
Did the British use Smallpox as a Weapon During the Revolutionary War?
On Dec. 4, 1775, Washington informed Congress that the British were sending civilians infected with smallpox out of the city: “By recent information … General …
The Olive Branch Petition: A letter from the 2nd Continental Congress to King George to Repeal his Tyrannous Laws
The Olive Branch Petition was issued (shipped by boat) from the American colonies to King George III in England. It proposed a final peace deal with England …
Thomas Jefferson: “We are Reduced to the Alternative of Choosing an Unconditional Submission to Tyranny, or Resistance by Force. The Latter is our Choice!”
The Continental Congress issued A Declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of North-America, Now Met in Congress at Philadelphia, Setting Forth the Causes and …
General Gage gives Ultimatum to Bostonians: Surrender Your Firearms
General Gage finally gave an ultimatum to the Bostonians that they were to surrender their firearms. Anyone that was found in possession of arms would …
Joseph Priestley Discovers Oxygen
On this day in 1774, dissenting British minister Joseph Priestley, author of Observations on Civil Liberty and the Nature and Justice of the War with …
The Quebec Act: The Last of the Intolerable Acts
The Quebec Act was passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on June 22, 1774. The Quebec Act was designed to extend the boundaries of …
The Boston Tea Party: American Patriots Protest the Tea Tax by Throwing 342 Tea Chests into the Boston Harbor
On December 16, 1773, members of the Sons of Liberty, many dressed in disguise as Mohawks, boarded three British ships docked in Boston harbor and dumped …
Benjamin Franklin Becomes America’s First Whistleblower when he Discretely Passed Along Some Secret British Government Documents, the Hutchinson Letters.
Edward Snowden and the NSA documents. Julian Assange and the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables. Daniel Elsberg and the Pentagon papers. Benjamin Franklin and the Hutchinson letters? …