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Sugar Act 1764
This was the first law passed by Parliament that raised tax revenues for the crown. The Sugar Act was created to regulate trade to the benefit of Britain Revenue to defray cost of garrisons in America. It increased duty on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies. It reduced tax on molasses from 6 pence to 3 pence, but put tax on wine, coffee, etc. The colonists viewed this as an internal tax without the consent by colonial legislatures and reacted through smuggling and boycotts. -
Currency Act
This act was created in response to the protest in London by British merchants against the paper money in VA. This act forbade the colonies to issue paper money. The act sought to protect British merchants and creditors from being paid in depreciated colonial currency. The colonists were angry and frustrated because many of the colonists did not have silver or gold. In reaction they began to protest and smuggle goods. -
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Stamp Act
In the Stamp Act every legal document and publication had a tax on it. This demonstrated that the colonies’ tradition of self taxation was being unjustly taken by parliament. This act was placed on the colonists so that the British could reduce the war debt they were in. Colonists lashed back very harshly to this act; they violently burned stamps and Stamp Act riots occurred;committees and societies were formed pledging to resist the Stamp Act such as the Sons/Daughters of Liberty. -
Repeal of Stamp Act and Passage of Declaratory Act
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Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were a series of laws which set new import taxes on British goods including paint, paper, lead, glass, and tea and used these revenues to maintain troops in America and to pay the salaries of some Royal officials who were appointed to work in the American colonies. Charles Townshend was careful not to impose direct taxes. Many Americans viewed the taxation as an abuse of power, resulting in the passage of agreements to limit imports from Britain. -
The Boston Incident
Was the beginning of the revolution where British soldiers had shot and killed 5 men on king street, which was ruled as an act of self defense resulting in the verdict of involuntary manslaughter. -
Tea Act
The Tea act was created to bail out the floundering East India Company, a key actor in the British economy. The British government granted the company a monopoly on the importation and sale of tea in the colonies.Because all legal tea entered the colonies through England, allowing the East India Company to pay lower taxes in Britain also allowed it to sell tea more cheaply in the colonies. Since the Colonies were not represented in Parliament, they saw the Tea Act as unconstitutional. -
Boston Tea Party
Was a protest to the British parliament on the tea taxes. The citizens dressed up as Indians and threw the tea shipments into the bay. This event took place in Boston Massachusetts. This event happened because the colonists had felt that they were being taxed without representation resulting in this protest with the tea. -
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Coercive/Intolerable Acts
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Invasion of Canada
This was the first major military initiative by the new continental army. The American army had had significant losses and were defeated by the British in this battle. -
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Second Continental Congress
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Second Continental Congress
Event: Delegates from twelve out of thirteen (and eventually Georgia) met to discuss matters such as the matter of defending from the British.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Effect: The Olive Branch Petition was created, a Continental Army was formed, and the Declaration of Independence was drafted. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Event: On Bunker hill, Colonists hid behind log walls during the battle. Every time British soldiers got near, the colonists shot them. Despite their loss (they ran out of gunpowder and bullets), the colonists inflicted many casualties against the British.
Location: Charleston, Boston, Massachusetts
Effect: The British claimed victory because they secured the hill, but so did the colonists because they killed many British soldiers. Overall, the colonists’ morale was raised. -
The British Takeover New York City
The British pushed the American defense out of Manhatten into New Jersey causing the takeover of the British in New York granting them an important port. -
Common Sense Published
This was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine urging the colonists to fight back against the British and take a stand to get independence. The pamphlet encouraged more and more people to fight to gain independence because he felt as though the colonists didn't deserve to be treated the way that they were treated. -
Declaration of Independence
Event: The Second Continental Congress states the colonies’ independence from Great Britain. The Declaration summarized their reasons for severing their connections to their mother country.
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Effect: The Declaration rallied support from both the colonists and from people abroad. -
Battle of Saratoga
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Battle of Saratoga
Event: The battle is commonly called the turning point of the Revolutionary War. It was comprised of two individual battles. In the first one, colonists aggressively charged into battle with a militia of Virginia sharpshooters. In the other one, the British and their German allies were devastated.
Location: Stillwater, Saratoga County, New York
Effect: The battle directly led to French involvement in the war. -
Articles of Confederation
This was the first constitution that was published in the United States. The constitution was made in preparation for independence from Britain, due to the fact that they wanted complete separation from Britain. -
Battle of Yorktown
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Battle of Yorktown
Event: Led by George Washington and the French General Comte de Rochambeau, the Patriots and their allies captured two British defenses, leading to the surrender of British General Lord Cornwallis and around 9,000 troops.
Location: Yorktown, Virginia
Effect: When Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington, the Revolutionary War officially ended with an American victory. This was when the British began their peace negotiations. -
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Land Ordinance of 1785
This was a document allowing colonists to move and purchase territories west of the initial colonies expanding into more land. -
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Was put into place to regulate the territory in the northwestern area of the expanding territory.
