Apr 19. British soldiers known as Redcoats engage against the colonial Minutemen.

May 10. Ethan Allen captures Fort Ticonderoga.

May 10. Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia to coordinate the war effort.

Jun 15. Virginian George Washington is named as the Colonialists Commander in Chief.

Jun 17. British & Colonial troops fight the Battle of Bunker Hill early in the Revolutionary War.

Jul 3. The Continental Army is placed under the command of George Washington.

Jul 26. Benjamin Franklin becomes the first United States Postmaster General.

Dec 30. Battle of Quebec takes place and Quebec is seized by American forces led by Benedict Arnold.

Apr 6. The Continental Navy and HMS Glasgow encounter in the Battle of Block Island.

May. Betsy Ross completes sewing the first American Flag.

Jun 28. The British engage the American rebels in the Battle of Sullivan’s Island in South Carolina.

Jul 1-4. The American Congress debates and makes revisions on the Declaration of Independence and is immediately sent to the printers.

Jul 8. Declaration of Independence is read for the first time to the public.

Aug 27. The Redcoats defeat the army of George Washington in the Battle of Long Island.

Sep 22. Nathan Hale is hanged by the British.

Dec 26. General George Washington crosses the Delaware and captures Trenton.

Sep 11. The Battle of Brandywine is won by British troops.

Sep 16. The Battle of the Clouds in Philadelphia is aborted because of heavy rain.

Sep 20. Surprise is reason for the British success in the Battle of Paoli.

Nov 16. Fort Mifflin is captured by British soldiers.

Dec 19. Valley Forge becomes Washington’s winter home.

May 20. The Continental’s escape a massacre at the Battle of Barren Hill.

Jul 3. Supporters loyal to Great Britain approve of the Indian Massacres in the Battle of Wyoming.

Sep 23. John Paul Jones captures the HMS Serapis near the English coast.

It is learned that Benedict Arnold had been a British spy.

Oct 19. Charles Cornwallis surrenders after being surrounded by the Americans and the French.

Nov 30. Basic aspects of the Preliminary Articles of Peace are signed by the Americans and the British.

Sep 3. Treaty of Paris is signed by both Great Britain and the United States.

Apr 1. John Adams is chosen as Ambassador to England.