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Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on May 22, 1765. The new tax was for all American Colonists and they had to pay extra for every piece of printed paper they used. Even though the tax was very small. The colonist didn’t care about the money as much as how they didn’t appreciate how England just used the money to build forces against the American Colonists. This caused many riots and controversy. among the Colonists. -
The Declaration Act
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The Declaratory Act happened on March 18, 1766. This was when British Parliament decided that they would control the laws of the American colonists. This way the British could control what was legal for the American colonists.They made this Act so that colonists would not have protests against the Stamp Act. -
Boston Massacre
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The Boston Massacre occured in Boston, MA. A group of
British soldiers led by Captain Samuel Prescott fired into a mob of people that had gathered outside the Customs House, killing 3 people instantly and 2 others died from wounds attained in the massacre. The townsfolk claim that the soldiers had planned the incident, and the soldiers claim that they were provoked. The patriots used this as propaganda to get people to join the cause. -
Boston Tea Party
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The colonist would not pay their taxes that the government of Britain tried to make them pay. They were unhappy about the taxes, so they threw 340 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. They did not like the taxes on the tea. The next day the tea was floating around the harbor. The Boston Tea Party was the first show of violence made by the colonists, and the first time they really wanted independence around the Boston area. -
Virginia Conventions
The Virginia convention was about five meetings in Virginia during the American Revolution. The first convention was about Lord Dunmore stopping the House of Burgesses. The second was when Patrick Henry deciding on arming the Virginia militia. The third was when Dunmore fled the colony and they created a committee to take over when he was gone. The fourth was to clarify that the colony was fine without Dunmore. The fifth convention was when Virginia declared their independence from Britain. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
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On April 17th, 1775 the tensions between the King and the Colonists erupted into violence. The British sent 1,200 soldiers to Concord to seize a gunpowder stockpile. The soldiers passed through Lexington where they fought and dispersed the Lexington Militia. The British continued to march until they met the Concord Militia. Killing 7 militiamen, the British searched the town. They failed to find the gunpowder, and marched to Boston. Along the road, militiamen shot & killed 125 soldiers. -
Capture of Ft. Ticonderoga
Ft. Ticonderoga was captured by some Green mountain boys. They were led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold. The fort was inhabited by 2 officers, 46 men, 25 women and children. The Americans wanted the fort because it had arms such as howitzers, mortars, and the like. -
The Battle of Bunker Hill
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The battle took place on Breed's hill, not Bunker hill, outside of Boston. Appx. 1,000 militiamen led by Col. William Prescott fortified Breed's Hill to keep British soldiers from leaving Charlestown, MA, the site of a British naval bombardment. The redcoats marched up Breed's Hill. Militamen hidden by their fortifications shot at the redcoats. This was when Col. Prescot said," Don't fire 'til you see the whites of their eyes". British losses totaled 3,250. The Americans only lost 500 men. -
Declaration drawn up
A committee was formed to draw up the Declaration of Independance. It was then ratified on July 4, 1776. The main writer was Thomas Jefferson although some changes were made to it before completion. -
Declaration Approved
The Declaration of Independance was ratified but the original July 4, document was lost. The one in the National Archives is a signed copy. Thomas Jefferson was the main author of the document but Congress made changes to the original and then ratified it.
