*Describe the imperial logic behind the renewed English efforts to control the American colonies in the wake of the 1763 Peace of Paris, and explain why increasing conflict between England and its American colonies focused on colonial taxation.

*Characterize the intent of the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Townshend duties, and describe the American reaction to each of them.

*Explain the process through which a "transfer of authority" from England to America unfolded in the wake of the Intolerable Acts of 1774.

*Discuss how the rebellion of America against England during 1775 gradually gave way to calls for revolution and independence during 1776.

*Contrast the military strategies that the Americans and the English adopted during the War for Independence, and assess their strengths and weaknesses.

1763 Peace of Paris ends French and Indian War.

Proclamation of 1763 restricts westward settlement.

1764 Sugar Act (Revenue Act) increases colonial taxation and steps up enforcement.

1765 Stamp Act imposes direct sales tax in colonies. Colonists respond with Virginia Resolves, Stamp Act Congress, and boycotts.

1766 Parliament repeals Stamp Act.

1767 Townshend Revenue Act imposes new duties on imports into the American colonies.

1770 British troops fire on civilians in Boston Massacre.

1773 Colonists launch Boston Tea Party to protest British monopoly on tea.

1774 Parliament responds with the Coercive, or Intolerable, Acts.

The First Continental Congress meets to coordinate the colonial response.

1775 New England Restraining Act.

Minutemen meet British army in Battles of Lexington and Concord.

British surrender Fort Ticonderoga to colonial troops.

Battle of Bunker Hill tests colonial troops.

Second Continental Congress appoints George Washington to command Continental army.

1776 Thomas Paine's Common Sense moves Americans to demand independence.

Congress approves Declaration of Independence on July 4.

1776–77 Battles of Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey.

Washington spends the winter at Morristown, New Jersey.

1777–78 British invade New York from Canada.

French recognize American independence.

Spain enters the war on the American side.

Washington spends the winter at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

1779–81 British strategy focuses on the southern colonies.

1781 Facing American and French forces, Lord Cornwallis surrenders at the Battle of Yorktown.

1783 British sign Treaty of Paris, granting U.S. independence and western lands.