Also Within This Year in History:
1775
The “shot heard round the world”—the opening salvo of the American Revolution, fired at the Battles of Lexington and Concord—got 1775 off with a bang. Before the year was out, the Second Continental Congress had appointed George Washington to command the troops and Benjamin Franklin to run the post office. Meanwhile in France, King Louis XVI was crowned, likely unaware that he’d one day face his own revolution—and the guillotine.
Francis Salvador, the first Jewish person to hold an elected office in the Americas, takes his seat on the South Carolina Provincial Congress on January 11, 1775. He later became…
On this day in 1775, London merchants petition Parliament for relief from the financial hardship put upon them by the curtailment of trade with the North American colonies. In the…
In London on February 7, 1775, “An Imaginary Speech” is published in defense of American courage. The text is widely attributed to Benjamin Franklin, but some scholars argue that he…
During a speech before the second Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry responds to the increasingly oppressive British rule over the American colonies by declaring, “I know not what course others may…
Future President Thomas Jefferson is elected to the second Continental Congress on March 27, 1775. Jefferson, a Virginia delegate, quickly established himself in the Continental Congress with the publication of…
Hoping to keep the New England colonies dependent on the British, King George III formally endorses the New England Restraining Act on March 30, 1775. The New England Restraining Act…
The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage, the first American society dedicated to the cause of abolition, is founded in Philadelphia on April 14, 1775.…
In Massachusetts, British troops march out of Boston on a mission to confiscate the Patriot arsenal at Concord and to capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock, known to…
On April 18, 1775, British troops march out of Boston on a mission to confiscate the American arsenal at Concord and to capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock,…
April 19, 1775: At about 5 a.m., 700 British troops, on a mission to capture Patriot leaders and seize a Patriot arsenal, march into Lexington to find 77 armed minutemen…
William Legge, 2nd earl of Dartmouth and secretary of state for the colonies for British King George III, instructs colonial Governor Josiah Martin of North Carolina to organize an association…
In a candid report to William Legge, 2nd earl of Dartmouth and the British secretary of state for the colonies, on this day in 1775, Benjamin Franklin’s illegitimate son, New…
On May 10, 1775, Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold lead a successful attack on Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York, while the Second Continental Congress assembles in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The…
On May 24, 1775, John Hancock is elected president of the Second Continental Congress. John Hancock is best known for his large signature on the Declaration of Independence, which he…
On this day in 1775, the committeemen of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, meet and respond to news of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American…
On this day in 1775, Marinus Willett and a small group of Sons of Liberty confront British soldiers and seize five wagonloads of weapons as the Redcoats evacuate New York…
On June 10, 1775, John Adams proposes to Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, that the men laying siege to Boston should be considered a Continental Army led by a general. The…
On June 14, 1775, the Continental Congress authorizes the enlistment of expert riflemen to serve the United Colonies for one year. This launches the U.S. Army as America’s first national…
On June 15, 1775, the Continental Congress votes to appoint George Washington, who would one day become the first American president, the commander of the colonies’ first official army. Four…
During the American Revolution, British General William Howe lands his troops on the Charlestown peninsula overlooking Boston and leads them against Breed’s Hill, a fortified American position just below Bunker…
