Mirabilis Member Years

1770

English redcoats fired on a Boston mob, killing six. The patriots immediately called it the Boston massacre and broadcast the event in all the colonies. Two of the soldiers were convicted of manslaughter, the rest exonerated through the efforts of Boston lawyer John Adams.

1771

War of the Regulation in North Carolina pits back-country farmers against Royal Governor and supporters.

1772

Samuel Adams and Joseph Warren form first Committee of Correspondence in Massachusetts.

1773

In response to a tax on tea, American “Sons of Liberty” took direct action in defiance of the Governor and against tea shippers by dumping tea in Boston Harbor.

1774

Parliament passed a series of “Coercive Acts” to punish Boston and Massachusetts for the violence against the Tea Merchants. Those “Intolerable” Acts included closing the Port of Boston, shutting down the town governments, and seizing control of the colony, to be governed by the army General. The high-handed response outraged patriots in all the colonies and led to widespread resistance.

1775

A British military expedition into the Massachusetts countryside to capture dissidents and gunpowder results in a clash with American militia at Lexington Green and a full-blown battle starting at the Town of Concord and extending all the way back to Boston. With hundreds of casualties, this day inaugurates the War for American Independence, though the Declaration of it is still more than a year away.

American militia officer Ethan Allen and his “Green Mountain Boys” capture Fort Ticonderoga, thus eliminating a major strategic English Fort and acquiring much-needed artillery for the American cause.

George Washington chosen by Congress as Commander in Chief of the American Army.

1776

The American Declaration of Independence was published and signed by representatives of each state, withdrawing 13 British Colonies from the Empire and forming the United States of America.

1777

A British Army under General John Burgoyne was defeated and captured in the Saratoga Campaign in New York State. Historians view this engagement as the turning point in the War for Independence since it triggered the French agreeing to help the Americans. American General Horatio Gates received the credit for the victory although General Benedict Arnold and other officers actually fought the battle while Gates remained in the rear.

1778

U.S. Secret Service founded with Aaron Burr as first director.

United States forces re-entered Philadelphia in the Revolutionary War.

1779

Henry Laurens of South Carolina, outspoken supporter of the Revolutionary War and independence, fourth President of the Congress, was captured by the British in route to The Hague. Imprisoned in the Tower of London, Laurens became a more devout Christian and after his exchange for General Cornwallis, captured at Yorktown, continued his service to his new country with redoubled purpose.