page_title: Timeline of the American Revolution
section_title: 1776
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of the American Revolution / 1770s / 1776
context_page_description: Timeline of the American Revolution — timeline of the political upheaval culminating in the 18th century in which Thirteen Colonies in North America joined together for independence from the British Empire, and after victory in the Revolutionary War combined to form the United States of America. The American Revolution includes political, social, and military aspects. The revolutionary era is generally considered to have begun with the passage of the Stamp Act in 1765 and ended with the ratification of the United States Bill of Rights in 1791. The military phase of the revolution, the American Revolutionary War, lasted from 1775 to 1783.
context_section_description: New Hampshire ratifies the first state constitution
  Burning of Norfolk (January 1)
  Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense (January 10)
  Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge (February 27)
  Battle of the Rice Boats (March 2-3)
  Battle of Nassau (March 3–4)
  Fortification of Dorchester Heights results in British forces evacuating Boston (March 4–5)
  British evacuate Boston (March 17)
  Pennsylvania Provincial Conference (June 18–25, 1776)
  Battle of Sullivan's Island (June 28)
  Thomas Hickey hung for role in plot to assassinate George Washington (June 28).  Loyalist New York Mayor David Mathews previously arrested in Flatbush, Brooklyn for his role in the plot (June 22).
  The Newly formed Continental Army departs its first winter encampment at Cambridge, Massachusetts (April)
  Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet (June 29)
  Largest assembly of British naval fleet in history commences off the coasts of Staten Island, Brooklyn and New Jersey (July 3).
  Second Continental Congress enacts (July 2) a resolution declaring independence from the British Empire, and then approves (July 4) the written Declaration of Independence.
  Sons of Liberty order African slaves to topple statue of King George III in Bowling Green (New York City) (July 9)
  Battle of Long Island, a.k.a. Battle of Brooklyn (August 27)
  British prison ships begin in Wallabout Bay, New York
  Staten Island Peace Conference (September 11)
  Landing at Kip's Bay (September 15)
  Battle of Harlem Heights (September 16)
  Great Fire of New York (September 21–22)
  Nathan Hale captured and executed for espionage (September 22)
  Battle of Valcour Island (October 11)
  Battle of White Plains (October 29)
  Battle of Fort Cumberland (November 10-29)
  Battle of Fort Washington (November 16)
  Battle of Fort Lee (November 20)
  Ambush of Geary (December 14)
  Battle of Iron Works Hill (December 23 – December 26)
  Battle of Trenton (December 26)
caption: Washington Crossing the Delaware, painting 1851 by Emanuel Leutze
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "1589", "Image ImageLength": "3847", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "150", "Image YResolution": "150", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (13.0 20120305.m.415 2012/03/05:21:00:00)  (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2012:04:08 04:57:56", "Image ExifOffset": "276", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "426", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5235", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "6004", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3847"}