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Quartering Act
The Quartering Act was a law passed by the British Parliament which required American colonies to provide housing, food, and other provisions to British soldiers stationed in the colonies. -
French-Indian War
The French and Indian War was the North American conflict. The war began in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The war provided Great Britain enormous territorial gains in North America, but disputes over frontier policy and paying the war’s expenses led to colonial discontent, and ultimately to the American Revolution. -
Navigation Acts
The Navigation Acts were acts of Parliament intended to promote the self-sufficiency of the British Empire by restricting colonial trade to England and decreasing dependence on foreign imported goods. These laws were a way for Britain to control profit from the trade of their colonies. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts imposed duties on various goods imported into the American colonies, such as glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. This was also used to pay for the salaries of British officials in the colonies which reduced the colonies control over these officials. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament which imposed direct tax on the colonies and required many printed materials for the colonies to be produced on stamped paper in London, carrying a revenue stamp. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was when British soldiers shot into a crowd of rowdy colonists in front of the Custom House on King Street, killing five and wounding six. The Boston Massacre marked the moment when political tensions between British soldiers and American colonists turned deadly. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were a series of four laws passed by the British Parliament to punish the colony of Massachusetts Bay for the Boston Tea Party. -
Boston Tea Party
British tea ships arrived in Boston harbor, many citizens wanted the tea sent back to England without the payment of any taxes. The royal governor insisted on payment of all taxes. A group of men disguised as Indians boarded the ships and dumped all the tea in the harbor to make a point. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress, meeting appointed George Washington commander in chief of the army. This was the group of leaders who worked to create the Declaration of Independence. -
Battle of Lexington & Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord is the famous 'shot heard 'round the world', which marked the start of the American War of Independence. It was politically disastrous for the British & it persuaded many Americans to take up arms and support the cause of the independence. -
Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by Congress to be sent to the King as a last attempt to prevent war from being declared. The Petition emphasized their loyalty to the British crown and emphasized their rights as British citizens. -
Common Sense
Common Sense, was written by Thomas Paine which was a 47-page pamphlet. Common Sense helped sway the Thirteen Colonies toward independence a passionate case for separation from Britain. -
Declaration of Independence
Its goals were to rally the troops, win foreign allies, and to announce the creation of a new country. The colonists declared that they did not have self-government which meant that they could not govern themselves and make their own laws. They also have to pay high taxes to the king. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. -
Daniel Shays’ Rebellion
Daniel Shays' Rebellion was a federal government wakeup call for Americans. Shays' Rebellion was about a monetary debt crisis at the end of the American Revolutionary War. -
Constitutional Convention (aka Philadelphia Convention)
The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia met to address the problems of the weak central government that existed under the Articles of Confederation.