1770s

The 1770s refers to the decade from 1770 to 1779. It was marked by political upheaval and imperial conflict, especially in the Atlantic world, as colonial resistance to European rule intensified and global powers contested influence around the world. The decade also featured notable advances in science, exploration, and industry that would help shape the late Enlightenment and the early stages of the Industrial Revolution.

In the Atlantic world, 1770 saw the Boston Massacre, a violent confrontation that intensified colonial grievances against Britain. James Cook’s 1770 expedition reached the east coast of Australia, charting parts of the continent and claiming lands for Britain as part of ongoing global exploration. The Gaspee Affair of 1772 highlighted growing colonial resistance to British enforcement at sea. The following years brought escalating tensions: the Tea Act and the Boston Tea Party of 1773, and in 1774 the Intolerable Acts and the First Continental Congress, which coordinated colonial responses. In 1775, fighting began in the American Revolutionary War with battles near Lexington and Concord and the siege of Boston, followed by the decisive Battle of Bunker Hill. In 1776, the Thirteen Colonies proclaimed independence with the Declaration of Independence.

The war's course continued, with a turning point in 1777 at Saratoga and the crucial Franco-American alliance formed in 1778. That alliance and subsequent aid helped sustain the American cause, while Spain entered the conflict against Britain in 1779. The year also marked the death of James Cook on his third voyage, in Hawaii, ending a major era of exploration.

Elsewhere, economic and industrial ideas advanced: Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations (1776) helped define modern economics, and Samuel Crompton’s spinning mule (1779) contributed to textile industrialization, signaling broader shifts in production.