1776

Timeline

1775

• April 18 Paul Revere's famous ride
• April 19 Fighting breaks out at Lexington and Concord
• May 10 (2nd) Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia; John Hancock of Massachusetts elected president.
• June 17 Battle of Bunker Hill
• June 15 George Washington appointed commander-in-chief of Continental Army; he accepts the next day.
• July 5  Congress submits John Dickenson's "Olive Branch Petition", proclaiming its loyalty to King George III, and asking him to mediate the grievances Congress has with the British government
• July 6  Congress issues Jefferson's "Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of taking up Arms".
• August 23  The king rejects the Olive Branch Petition and declares the colonies in rebellion.

1776

• January 9  Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" is published in Philadelphia
• March 17 The British evacuate Boston, never to return.  (This event is still celebrated annually in Massachusetts as "Evacuation Day".)
• June 7 Richard Henry Lee introduces resolution on independence
• June 11 Congress appoints a committee to draft a declaration, consisting of Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, Sherman, and Livingston
• June 28 2nd draft of declaration (as amended by Franklin, then Adams, then the other two) is read in Congress.
• July 2 Lee's resolution is passed by Congress.
• July 4 Congress endorses the Declaration of Independence.
• July 19 Congress orders the Declaration to be engrossed, and signed by all members
• August 2  The majority of delegates sign the declaration.

Note

This material is mostly derived from The History Place.  For events before the war, see this page.  For events from 1777 to the end of the war, see this page.  For events after the war leading up to establishment of the new government under the Constitution, see this page.