TIMELINE

1776

  • Second Continental Congress declares independence

  • Howe forces Washington to retreat from New York and New Jersey

  • Pennsylvania approves democratic state constitution

  • John Adams publishes Thoughts on Government

1777

  • Articles of Confederation create central government

  • Howe occupies Philadelphia (September)

  • Gates defeats Burgoyne at Saratoga (October)

1778

  • Franco-American alliance (February)

  • Lord North seeks political settlement

  • Congress rejects negotiations

  • British adopt southern strategy

  • British capture Savannah (December)

1778–1781

  • Severe inflation of Continental currency

1779

  • British and American forces battle in Georgia

1780

  • Clinton seizes Charleston (May)

  • French troops land in Rhode Island

1781

  • Cornwallis invades Virginia (April), surrenders at Yorktown (October)

  • States finally ratify Articles of Confederation

1783

  • Treaty of Paris (September 3) officially ends war

1784–1785

  • Congress enacts political and land ordinances for new states

1786

  • Nationalists hold convention in Annapolis, Maryland

  • Shays’s Rebellion roils Massachusetts

1787

  • Congress passes Northwest Ordinance

  • Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia

1787–1788

  • Jay, Madison, and Hamilton write The Federalist

  • Eleven states ratify U.S. Constitution