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Proclamation of 1763
Land including the Allegheny mountain range in West Virginia, Quebec, the Mississippi River, and Florida, were given by royal order to the Native Americans. The colonists thought of this proclamation as their British overseers having little interest in expanding the American territory. -
Sugar Act
The government banned foreign territories from importing rum to the colonies, lowered prices for molasses imports, and also added taxes to imports deemed “luxury items,” which included coffee, wine, silk, and other materials that were not accessible to the average colonist. To prevent smugglers, the government forced searches upon incoming ships, which outraged merchants and eventually resulted in the term “no taxation with representation.” -
Currency Act
In this act, the British Parliament banned the colonies from printing any type of currency. This heavily limited the distribution and trading, and negatively impacted the economy. As a result, the colonists became increasingly more agitated toward Britain due to the constant restrictions being put in place. -
Stamp Act
This act imposed taxes upon all paper products that were being imported and exported. Those who failed to have the government-approved seal would have to pay a hefty fine, and if one were to make a counterfeit seal they would receive the death penalty. This caused a large sum of the colonists’ money to be lost, and many of the States’ trading partners were confused by all this. -
Quartering Act
This was a law ordered that any of the colonists were to oblige to provide British troops with lodging. As one could imagine, having strangers in combat for the tyrannical nation overseas was something that once again provided them with a reason to want to break away from Britain. -
Declaratory Act
After the laws concerning the Stamp and Sugar acts had been abridged, another Act was devised that said the Parliament could make laws for whatever they wanted and apply to anything. Despite the colonists wanting their own independence, the Parliament still had the ultimate power over all of them. -
Townshend Act
A chancellor from Britain, Charles Townshend, devised a plan to take away from the British people’s issues concerning trade and finances by adding extra taxes to anything the colonies bought that was imported. Though it was less strict than the Stamp Act, it still proved to be another obstacle for the colonists, who did their best to protest against this with the little power they had. -
Boston Tea Party
Constant tension arose between the British and the colonists over the years leading up to this, with imbalances and underrepresentation contributing to what happened. A conflict between soldiers and colonists erupted into a violent attack between the two sides and ended with three colonists dead. The Parliament felt that they should redeem themselves, and lowered taxes except for tea. The colonists felt this was a lousy excuse and that the Parliament felt little remorse. -
Boston Tea Party
Over the three years between the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party, colonists resorted to illegal measures in order to obtain tea without having to pay an additional large sum of money. In this event, Samuel Adams, along with a group of men, dressed as Indians and snuck on a British ship carrying tea. They dumped all the cases into the harbor to prevent the colonists from having to pay the demanded taxes if it were to be distributed. -
Intolerable Acts
After the events of the Boston Tea Party, to punish the colonists, Britain placed more restrictions on the territories. These laws included shutting down the Boston Harbor until the lost tea cost was covered, banning town meetings without the governor’s permission, trials without a jury, and another Quartering Act that forced the colonists to house soldiers. With their basic rights being taken away, the colonists became increasingly agitated with the Parliament. -
Quartering Act
A part of the Intolerable Acts, all colonists were obliged to provide any British soldier with a place to stay and commodities at any time. Not only did they consider this a violation of their private property, but it also caused more tension between the colonists and the soldiers. -
Quebec Act
Taking a step back similar to what was in place before the French and Indian War, this act brought Quebec’s territory all the way to the Ohio River. What resulted from this was a new place of power for the Catholic Church, and yet again introduced a non-jury trial. This angered the colonists because it challenged their ability to extend their land, and also closed in their land yet again.