1776 – Day-By-Day America

From Loyalty to Independence

At first, the colonists were fighting for their rights as British subjects. But as time wore on, they saw that they needed independence instead. The Continental Congress declared independence in July, but the American army kept getting beaten. At the very end of the year, however, they made a comeback…

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

January

1 – The Battle of Quebec and the Burning of Norfolk
2
3
4
5 – New Hampshire Forms its New Government
6 – Birth of the Oldest American Army Unit
7
8
9
10 – Thomas Paine Publishes Common Sense
11
12 – British Sailors Raid Islands in Narragansett Bay (12-14)
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20 – Sir John Johnson of Johnstown and His Loyalist Forces Surrender
21
22
23 – Capture of British Supply Ship Blue Mountain Valley
24 – Artillery from Fort Ticonderoga Arrives at Cambridge
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

February

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27 – Loyalists are defeated at Moore’s Creek, North Carolina
28
29

March

1
2
3 – American Marines Raid New Providence (Nassau) in the Bahamas
4 – Americans Burn Rice Ships at Savannah
5 – Americans Occupy Dorchester Heights
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17 – British and Loyalists Evacuate Boston
18
19
20
21
22
23 – Congress Declares a Privateering War
24
25 – Congress Sends Envoys to Convince Canada to Rebel
26
27
28
29
30
31

April

1
2
3
4
5
6 – American Ships Attack HMS Glasgow
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15 – British Capture Ship Transporting American Soldiers
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

May

1
2 – King Louis XVI authorizes French support for the Americans
3
4
5
6 – Americans Retreat from Quebec
7
8 – Pennsylvania Galleys Attack British Warships in the Delaware River
9
10 – Continental Congress recommends that the colonies form new governments
11
12
13
14
15 – Congress Calls for All Royal Authority to be Suppressed Throughout the Colonies; Virginia Tells its Delegates to Propose Independence
16
17
18
19 – American Forces Surrender at the Cedars
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

June

1
2
3
4
5
6
7 – Richard Henry Lee Moves for Independence
8 – Battle of Three Rivers (Trois Rivières)
9 – Americans Evacuate Montreal
10 – French Secret Agent Beaumarchais Receives Money to Support the Rebellion
11 – Congress Appoints Committee to Draft a Declaration of Independence
12 – Virginia Adopts a Declaration (or Bill) of Rights
13
14 – Final Retreat from Canada Begins
15
16
17
18 – “To prevent the embezzlement of the public tools…”
19
20 – A Circular, a Declaration, and a Letter from the King’s Commissioner
21
22
23
24
25 – First of the British Fleet Arrive at New York
26
27
28 – Battle of Sullivan’s Island; Thomas Hickey’s Execution
29
30

July

1 – To Be or Not to Be Independent
2 – Congress Votes to Declare Independence and British Troops Land on Staten Island
3 – Thomas Jefferson, the Hatter
4 – The Declaration of Independence
5 – Fireworks at Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey
6
7 – Prison Riot at New York; American agent Silas Deane arrives in France
8 – Americans Capture Gwynn Island in the Chesapeake
9 – The Leaden George
10
11
12 – British Warships Enter the Hudson
13
14
15
16 –
17
18 – Plan for a Treaty with France: “There Shall be a firm, inviolable, and universal Peace”
19 – Congress Responds to Lord Howe’s Declaration
20
21
22 – Congress Begins Debating on the Articles of Confederation
23 – Lord Dunmore Destroys Plantations in Virginia
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

August

1
2 – Signing the Declaration of Independence: Hang Together or Hang Separately
3 – British Warships and American Galleys Face Off in the Tappan Zee
4 – One Eight Dollar Bill Lost
5
6
7
8 – Recruiting with Music: “Come all you young fellows of Courage So Bold…”
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16 – American Fire Ships Attack HMS Phoenix and Rose
17 – Get Out of Town!
18 – Phoenix and Rose Rejoin the British Fleet
19
20 – The Great Seal: Moses, Hengist, Horsa, Hercules, or Aesop?
21 – “A Most Terrible Storm”
22 – Invasion of Long Island
23
24
25
26 – German-American Officer Found Guilty of Attempted Espionage
27 – Americans Defeated at the Battle of Long Island (also known as the Battle of Brooklyn)
28
29 – A Miraculous Retreat from Long Island
30
31

September

1
2
3
4
5
6
7 – Voyage of the Turtle
8 – Bombardment of the Fort at Hell Gate
9
10
11 – Peace Talk with Admiral Howe on Staten Island
12
13
14
15 – Kips Bay and the Disastrous Retreat from New York
16 – Harlem Heights: A Small But Important Victory
17
18
19 – The Howes’ Declaration — and Explanation; Oaths of Allegiance and Non-Allegiance
20 – The Great Fire at New York; Congress Adopts Articles of War
21
22 – Nathan Hale: Duty, Honor, and the Gallows
23 – Americans Fail to Recapture Montresor’s Island
24
25
26 – Congress Appoints Commissioners for Negotiating Treaties in Europe
27
28
29
30

October

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11 – Battle of Valcour Island (Lake Champlain)
12 – Americans Stop the British at Throg’s Neck, New York
13
14 – British Occupy Crown Point on Lake Champlain
15
16
17
18 – Battle of Pell’s Point, New York
19
20
21
22 – Attack on the “Queen’s American Rangers” in New York
23
24
25
26
27 – First Attack on Fort Washington Fails
28 – Battle of White Plains
29
30
31

November

1 – American Army Withdraws to North Castle
2
3 – British Forces on Lake Champlain Withdraw to Canada
4
5
6
7
8
9 – Washington Withdraws from New York to New Jersey
10
11
12
13 – Americans Attack Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia (13-29)
14
15
16 – British and Hessians Capture Fort Washington on Manhattan Island
17
18
19
20 – Americans Abandon Fort Lee, in New Jersey
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

December

1
2
3 – Which are the Biggest Liars?
4
5
6
7
8 – American Army Escapes across the Delaware River; British Occupy Newport
9
10
11
12
13 – British Capture General Charles Lee
14 – How to Make a Patriot
15
16
17
18
19 – Thomas Paine publishes The American Crisis
20 – Continental Congress Reconvenes in Baltimore instead of Philadelphia
21
22
23
24
25
26 – Americans Make a Successful Surprise Attack at Trenton
27 – Congress Grants Expanded Powers to General Washington
28
29
30
31