In Assassin’s Creed III, the historical story begins in 1754.
The opening historical sequence introduces Haytham Kenway in London before moving to the North American colonies. Haytham’s journey establishes the game’s Templar perspective and eventually leads into the events that shape his son, Connor.
The game later covers major stages of the American Revolution, including the years around 1775 and the conflict’s conclusion in 1783. Because those dates are more strongly associated with the main revolutionary action, 1775 is a common mistaken answer to a question about the beginning.
The 1754 opening also links the game to the French and Indian War period. Assassin’s Creed III presents fictional characters within real historical events, so the exact story is dramatized even though its broad timeline follows the eighteenth-century conflict.