Revolutionary War Timeline: Celebrate the United States' 250th Anniversary

The United States will soon celebrate its 250th birthday, unofficially beginning 16 December 2023 with the commemoration of the Boston Tea Party. Learn about festivities from the America250 website.

Here’s a roundup of the Boston Tea Party and other key events in the American Revolution that you can celebrate as they reach the semiquincentennial milestone.

1773

December 16: During the “Boston Tea Party,” colonists protest British taxes by dumping tons of tea into Boston Harbor

1774

January: The Royal American Magazine, the first periodical to regularly use engraved illustrations, begins; Paul Revere and John Hancock are among the contributors
March 31: The British Parliament passes the first of five “Intolerable Acts” designed to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party
September 5: The First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia

1775

March 23: At the Second Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry proclaims, “Give me liberty or give me death!”
April 19: “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World” is fired as colonists engage the British in the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts; the night before, Paul Revere and others famously ride to Lexington to warn that the British are coming
May 10: The Green Mountain Boys, led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, capture the British fort at Ticonderoga; the Second Continental Congress convenes
June 15: George Washington is named commander of a new Continental army
June 17: British troops triumph at the Battle of Bunker Hill, but suffer significant casualties
July 5–6: Congress adopts “the Olive Branch Petition” (an attempt at peace with Britain) and a “Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms” (which explained the Colonies’ grievances)
July 26: Congress establishes a postal service, naming Benjamin Franklin postmaster general

1776

January 10: Thomas Paine anonymously publishes Common Sense, which advocates independence and becomes widely popular among colonists
March 17: After a 10-month siege, American forces drive the British from Boston
May 4: Rhode Island is the first US colony to announce independence from Great Britain
July 4: Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence
August 27: The British win the Battle of Long Island, eventually driving American forces from the New York City region
December 25–26: Washington leads his troops across the Delaware River to attack British allies at Trenton, N.J., inspiring a famous portrait

1777

June 14: The United States adopts its official flag
September 26: The British capture the Colonial capital of Philadelphia, forcing the Continental Congress to flee
October 17: British General John Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga, N.Y., a major turning point in the Revolutionary War
December 19: Washington sets up a winter encampment at Valley Forge, Pa. Over the next few months, roughly 2,000 soldiers die of disease

1778

February 6: France acknowledges American independence, the first sovereign nation to do so
June 18: The British evacuate Philadelphia

1779

April 12: Spain formally enters the war as an ally of France, and declares war on Great Britain on June 21
September 23: John Paul Jones vows, “I have not yet begun to fight,” and defeats the British frigate Serapis

1780

September 24: General Benedict Arnold is discovered as a traitor and defects to British forces

1781

March 1: The 13 colonies ratify the Articles of Confederation, a self-government plan
October 19: At Yorktown, Va., Gen. Charles Cornwallis surrenders to Washington in the last major battle of the war

1782

August 7: Washington designates the first version of the Purple Heart, known as the Badge of Military Merit; it is the United States’ first military medal
Virginia legislators make it legal for any man “to emancipate and set free his slaves”

1783

September 3: The United States and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Paris, which recognizes American independence and sovereignty over lands east of the Mississippi River
The US population is 2.4 million

An early version of this article appeared in the August 2003 issue of Family Tree Magazine. Last updated, December 2023.