1775 – Day-By-Day America

The war begins…

The war begins at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. Americans still talk about loyalty to King George III but resistance to the oppressions of the British Parliament. The colonists besiege the British army in Boston, form a united Continental Army, and invade Canada. Britain prepares to send many more troops and warships to stop the rebellion. The Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia. As the year wears on, more and more people start to think and talk of independence…

April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

April: Lexington, Concord, the Siege of Boston…

19 – The Battles of Lexington and Concord: “The Shot Heard Round the World”
20 – Virginia’s Governor Dunmore Secretly Removes Gunpowder from the Williamsburg Arsenal
21 – Americans Seize Gunpowder from the Arsenals in Charleston, South Carolina
22
23 – Massachusetts Starts Forming an Army
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30

May: Fort Ticonderoga, the Second Continental Congress…

1 – A Plan to Invade Canada
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3
4
5
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8
9
10 – Americans Capture Fort Ticonderoga, and the Second Continental Congress Meets in Philadelphia
11 – Americans Seize Gunpowder from the Royal Magazine in Savannah, Georgia
12 – Americans Capture Crown Point on Lake Champlain
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14
15
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17 – Fire in Dock Square, Boston
18 – Benedict Arnold Captures a British Ship at St. John’s
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20
21 – Admiral Graves Promises not to Impress Sailors from Salem
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23
24
25 – New British Commanders Arrive in Boston
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27 – Skirmish, Fire, and Slaughter at Noddle’s Island
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29 – Congress Writes “To the oppressed Inhabitants of Canada”
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31 – Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Declares British Laws Null and Void; Governor Martin Flees the Capital

June: The Continental Army, the Battle of Bunker Hill…

1 – Stay Out of Canada!
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8 – Virginia’s Governor, Lord Dunmore, Flees to the Safety of a British Warship
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10
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12 – Proclamation by General Gage and Battle of Machias (the “Lexington of the Sea”)
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14 – Birth of the (American) Continental Army
15 – George Washington Appointed as Commander-in-Chief
16 – Washington Offers to Serve Without Pay
17 – The Battle of Bunker Hill
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19 – General Gage Orders Bostonians to Turn in Their Guns — Again
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21
22
23
24 – Royal Navy Authorized to Impress American Sailors
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26
27 – Congress Authorizes an Invasion of Canada
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29
30

July: Petitions, Declarations, Addresses…

1
2
3 – Washington Takes Command
4
5 – The Olive Branch Petition
6 – Why We Fight
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8 – Appeals to the King and the People
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12
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20 – A Continental Fast for Divine Intervention
21 – Americans Raid Nantasket Point and Light-House Island in Boston Harbor
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25
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27 – Passengers Disarmed when Arriving in New York
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29
30
31 – Shooting and Dancing by Maryland Riflemen; Second Attack on Light-House Island

August

1 – Tyrannical Rabble and Highland Emigrants
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3
4
5
6 – Beef and Mutton from Fisher’s Island
7 – Gunpowder Galore at St. Augustine
8 – Captain Linzee Loses Boats and Men at Cape Ann
9
10 – Americans Take Cannon from Newport, Rhode Island
11 – A Fist-and-Sword Fight in Boston
12 – Tar and Feathers at Charleston
13
14 – The Bermuda Raid
15
16
17 – “Female Infantry” and Sugar
18 – Hanged and Burned
19
20 – What Admiral Graves is Not Doing
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22
23 – HMS Asia Fires on New York City; King George III Declares the Colonies to be in Rebellion
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25
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27
28
29
30 – Bombardment of Stonington, Connecticut
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September

1
2
3
4
5 – Americans Ambushed near St. John’s, Quebec
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7
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9
10
11 – Benedict Arnold’s Daring Invasion of Canada Begins
12 – Rhode Island Sends Ship to Bermuda for Gunpowder
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14
15 – Lord William Campbell, Governor of South Carolina, Takes Refuge on British Warship
16 – Americans Besiege St. John’s
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18
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20
21
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23
24
25 – Ethan Allen Tries to Capture Montreal (And Gets Captured)
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27
28
29 – American Dr. Benjamin Church is Arrested as a British Spy
30

October

1
2
3
4
5
6
7 – Bombardment of Bristol, Rhode Island
8
9
10 – General William Howe Takes Over as British Commander
11
12 – British General Thomas Gage Sails back to England
13 – The Beginning of the Continental Navy
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15
16 – British Troop Transport Runs Aground
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18 – British Ships Destroy Falmouth (now Portland), Maine; Governor William Tryon of New York Takes Refuge aboard British Warship
19 – Americans and Canadians Capture Chambly, Canada
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21
22 – Death of Peyton Randolph (First President of the Continental Congress)
23
24 – Americans Repel British Attack at Hampton, Virginia
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31

November

1
2 – St. John’s (Finally) Surrenders to the Americans
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4
5
6
7 – Royal Governor Lord Dunmore Proclaims Martial Law in Virginia
8
9 – Benedict Arnold Reaches the St. Lawrence River
10 – Birth of the Marine Corps
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December

1
2
3
4 – The Washington: First American Warship Captured
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6
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8
9 – Battle of Great Bridge, Virginia
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