Timeline
Year |
“National” events |
Southern colonial and backcountry events |
1754–63 |
French and Indian War |
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1758–61 |
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Cherokee War |
1761–63 |
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Struggle between South Carolina royal governor and its assembly over the extent of assembly’s power |
1763 |
February 10—Treaty of Paris marks the official end of the French and Indian War |
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October—Proclamation of 1763 forbids migration west of the crest of the Appalachian Mountains |
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1764 |
Parliament enacts various Navigation and Revenue Acts including Sugar Act and Currency Act |
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1765 |
March—Stamp Act and Quartering Act passed |
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Stamp Act protests |
Stamp Act protests in southern colonies |
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October—Stamp Act Congress |
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1766 |
Stamp Act repealed |
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March—Declaratory Act |
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May—Word of Stamp Act’s repeal reaches southern colonies |
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June—Townshend Acts |
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1767–68 |
First round of American boycotts of British goods |
South Carolina Regulator Movement begins |
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South Carolina creates Committee of Thirty-Nine to enforce boycotts |
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March—Truce between South Carolina Regulators and Moderators |
1769 |
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South Carolina Judiciary Act addresses Regulator demands |
1770 |
March—Boston Massacre |
South Carolina Assembly appropriates money for defense of John Wilkes |
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South Carolina Assembly installs statue honoring William Pitt |
1771 |
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Royal government effectively ends in South Carolina though royal governor does not depart |
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March—Battle of Alamance results in defeat of North Carolina Regulators |
1773 |
Tea Act |
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Tea Act protests and boycotts |
Tea Act protests and boycotts |
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December—Boston Tea Party |
December—South Carolina tea is unloaded and stored for safekeeping |
1774 |
March–June—Passage of the Coercive (Intolerable) Acts |
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September 5–October 26—First Continental Congress Meets |
North and South Carolina send delegates to First Continental Congress |
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October 20—First Continental Congress passes “the Association,” a prohibition on trade with Britain |
In South Carolina, Committee of Ninety-Nine organizes Provincial Congress |
1775 |
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Georgia organizes a Provincial Congress and ratifies the Association |
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South Carolina organizes Committee of Safety to oversee colony’s defense |
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April 19—Battles of Lexington and Concord |
April—Committee of Safety seizes British supply of munitions in Charles Town |
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May—Second Continental Congress |
North and South Carolina and Georgia send delegates to Second Continental Congress |
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June—Formation of Continental Army; George Washington named commander-in-chief |
June—South Carolina Provincial Congress ratifies the Association and authorizes formation of military units under command of Committee of ty; issues circular letter to the districts of the states outlining its positions on British authority |
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June—Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston results in Patriot defeat |
Summer—Royal government effectively ends in North Carolina and Georgia |
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Summer—Representatives of the South Carolina Committee of Safety and North Carolina Whigs seek backcountry support |
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July—Seizure of Port Charlotte from British |
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September—Treaty of Ninety-Six forestalls armed conflict between Whigs and Loyalists in South Carolina backcountry |
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November Whig forces take Fort Johnson in South Carolina |
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November—Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation |
November—First battle of Ninety-Six |
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November/December—Snow Campaign |
1776 |
January—Publication of Common Sense |
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March—British evacuate Boston |
March—South Carolina adopts state constitution |
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April—North Carolina Provincial Congress issues Halifax Resolves authorizing delegates to Second Continental Congress to vote for pendence. First state to do so. |
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June—Whig victory—Battle of Sullivan’s Island |
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July—Declaration of Independence adopted |
August—news of the Declaration reaches southern colonies |
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September—British occupy New York City |
July–October—Cherokee campaign in South Carolina |
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December—Washington’s forces are victorious at Battle of Trenton in New Jersey |
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1777 |
January—Patriot victory at Princeton, New Jersey |
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May—Cherokee cede all South Carolina lands to the colony in the Treaty of DeWitt’s Corner |
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September—British victory at Battle of Brandywine in Pennsylvania |
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September—British occupy the American capital at Philadelphia |
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October—American victory at Saratoga in New York |
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December—Washington’s army enters winters quarters at Valley Forge |
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1778 |
February—French–American treaty of alliance signed |
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June—British abandon Philadelphia and return to New York |
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December—British occupy Savannah |
1779 |
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February—Patriot victory over Loyalist forces at Kettle Creek in Georgia |
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May 11–12—First Battle of Charles Town—British withdraw |
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July—British burn Fairfield and Norwalk, Connecticut |
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October—American attempt to recapture Savannah fails |
1780 |
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Winter–spring—British invade South Carolina |
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April—Governor Rutledge flees South Carolina |
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April 1—-Siege of Charles Town begins |
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April 14—Whig defeat—Battle of Monck’s corner |
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May 12—Surrender of Charles Town to British |
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May 29—Battle of the Waxhaws |
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June 3—Clinton revokes original terms of parole |
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June 18—British troops burn Hill’s Ironworks |
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June 20—Whigs rout Loyalist forces at Ramsour’s Mill, North Carolina |
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July—French troops arrive in Rhode Island to aid the American cause |
July 12—Whig victory at Battle of Huck’s Defeat |
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July 13—First battle of Cedar Springs—Whig victory |
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August 16—American defeat at Battle of Camden |
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August 18—Whig victory at Musgrove’s Mill |
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October—George Washington appoints Nathanael Greene as commander of the southern branch of the Continental Army |
October 7—Battle of Kings Mountain |
1781 |
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January 17—American victory at the Battle of Cowpens |
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January 17–early March—The “race to the Dan” |
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March—Articles of Confederation adopted |
March 15—General Greene is defeated at Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina |
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April 25—General Greene is defeated at Hobkirk’s Hill in South Carolina |
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May 22–June 19—General Greene lays siege to British garrison at Ninety-Six; ultimately withdraws and British abandon fort |
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June 6—Whigs recapture Augusta, Georgia |
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September 8—General Greene defeated at Eutaw Springs, South Carolina |
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October 19—Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown, Virginia |
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1782 |
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July—British evacuate Savannah |
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Backcountry fighting between Whigs and Loyalists continues |
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November 30—British and Americans sign preliminary peace treaty |
November 14—Battle of James Island, South Carolina is last Southern engagement; British victory |
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December 14—British leave Charles Town |
1783 |
September 3—Treaty of Paris formally concludes the war and recognizes American independence |
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November—British troops leave New York City |
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