In chronological order:
1. The Tea Act was passed by British Parliament in May of 1773. It caused the Boston Tea Party.
2. The Intolerable Act (also called the ‘Coercive acts’) was passed in 1774, the earliest being March 1774, following after the Boston Tea party.
3. The First Continental Congress met in Pennsylvania in September 1774. The meeting was due in part to the Intolerable Acts.
4. The Battles of Lexington and Concord took place in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775. The British troops intended to stop colonists from rebelling by making arrests and to take any military weapons. It started the American war for independence/Revolutionary War.
5. The U.S. Declaration of Independence went into effect on July 4, 1776. It was an official declaration of the 13 colonies separation from British rule.