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End of the French and Indian War
The French and Indian War came to an end on February 10, 1763. After the war, the colonies were left with an immense amount of debt to pay back to Britain. This led to several acts being passed in attempts for government leaders to gain money to pay back Britain. They often passed these acts without the colonists knowing, which led to them being enraged. -
The Sugar Act
The Sugar Act of 1764 changed the tax imports from the Caribbean from 6 cents down to 3 cents per gallon. Even though the tax went down, the act strictly enforced zero smuggling. Aside from that upsetting the colonists, they were also upset by the fact that they had no knowledge of it being passed at first. -
The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act of 1765 required any printed material to include a stamp. This affected those who worked with paper daily. Such as lawyers, and writers writing newspapers. Later that year in October, the Stamp Act Congress met. This was the first known time that the colonies united together to fight against something. -
The Declaratory Act
The Declaratory Act of 1766 was a power move by Britain. This act did not pass anything besides the fact that Britain could tax the colonists whenever for however much money they wanted. -
The Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts of 1767 created ports that boats would arrive at in hopes to combat smuggling. Colonists reacted by boycotting. What was different about this boycott from others, is that even women were participating this time. -
The Tea Act
The Tea Act of 1773 offered lower taxes on British imported tea, but it only led to poor quality tea being shipped. On December 16th, 1773 the colonists dressed up as Native Americans and threw tea off the ships at the port. In today's money, 4 million dollars worth of tea was lost. -
The Start of the Revolutionary War
The start of the Revolutionary War was on April 19th, 1775. After the North American colonists retaliated to the Tea Act of 1773, the British wanted to show them who really held the power. The British did this by retaliating with war.