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Writs of Assistance
The writs of assistance was a so called search warrant issued by the British and British officials, but the writs of assistance could be issued without probable cause. This angered the colonists a lot. -
Royal Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was issued by King George III of Great Britain. This proclamation was issued following the acquiring of French colonial territory in North America after the French and Indian War. This proclamation stated that English colonists may not be allowed to expand and colonized westward. This proclamation was important because it was the first royal decree to affect all 13 British colonies. -
Sugar Act of 1764
The Sugar Act, also known as the American Revenue Act was passed by Parliament of as a modified version of the 1733 Sugar and Molasses Act that was to expire. The purpose was to lower taxes on molasses. The act also taxed more foreign goods such as wines, sugar and coffee. This new law was not liked in the colonies and this affected the colonial economy. It was not liked by the colonies because the policy of salutary neglect is not being enforced on the colonies. -
Quartering Act of 1765
The British Parliament passed the Quartering Act in March of 1765 which outlined the locations that British soldiers could find room in the American colonies. It also forced colonists to lodge British soldiers in their homes. After riots in colonies like New York, the Quartering Act was repealed in 1774. -
Stamp Act of 1765
The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament with the purpose to make the colonists pay taxes on all printed paper. The tax itself was small but the controversy surrounding it was because this was the first tax that was meant to help revenue and not to help commerce. The Stamp Act was repealed in 1766 after riots in the colonies and resignations of stamp collectors. The British passed the Declaratory Act which stated that they were able to pass any colonial legislation that they saw fit. -
Stamp Act Congress
The meeting of the first Congress of the Colonies took place in New York. Attending were representatives of 9 of the British colonies with the common objective to come up with a plan against British taxation. The Congress wrote the Declaration of Rights/Grievances of the Colonists which said Colonists and British had the same rights and that the colonies should not be taxed without representation and only colonial assemblies should be the ones to tax. This was rejected by the British Parliament. -
Declaratory Act of 1766
When the Stamp Act was repealed in March for 1766, the Parliament passed the Declaratory Act which stated that the Parliament could pass any law on the colonies whenever they saw fit. There were many protests due to this law because this bill illustrated British insensitivity to the political maturity that developed in the American provinces. -
Townshend Acts 1767
Named for Charles Townshend, head of British ministry. Persuaded Parliament to pass these regulations with an import duty on glass, while lead, paper and paint and tea. This was an indirect customs duty payable at American ports. It was repealed when the colonists protested this massively. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was an event where the British fired their guns on the citizens of Boston. This was due to the fact that there had been a gun misfire and led the British to believe they had been fired upon. In result, five colonists were killed and the soldiers involved were arrested and tried. The famous cartoon by Paul Revere helps depict what happened here. -
Tea Act of 1773
The Tea Act was passed by the British and it granted the British East India Company a monopoly on tea sales in the colonies. This act was one of the least popular ones that existed in the colonies and this act resulted in the Boston Tea Party. For some this act was the last straw in relations between Britain and the colonies. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was an event that occurred in response to the Tea Act. The Colonists dumped 342 chests of British tea in the harbor. This was the first major act of defiance to British rule over the colonists. The Sons of Liberty were the heads of the boycott on tea and they snuck on the British ships disguised as Native Americans. -
Coercive Acts of 1774
The Coercive Acts was instituted by the British Parliament as punishment for the Boston Tea Party. The act closed Boston Harbor until their debt on the tea dumped in the harbor could be repaid, it also dissolved all town meetings in Massachusetts and appointed British as all government officials -
Quebec Act of 1774
The Quebec Act of 1774 is also known as the north america act of 1774.This act was an act of the parliament of great Britain setting procedures of governance in the province of Quebec. This gave the french Canadians complete religious freedom and restored the french form of civil law. -
1st Continental Congress
The Continental Congress, also known as the Philadelphia Congress was a convention of delegates called today from the Thirteen Colonies. The Continental Congress was the governing body by which the American colonial governments coordinated their resistance to British rule during the first two years of war. As the war progressed, the Congress became the effective national governments. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord, were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War, This battle happened because the British commander in Boston had heard that there were supplies and powders kept by Patriots in the towns Lexington and Concord. The Patriots ended up winning the battle and this proved to the British that the Patriots were not just a bad of unorganized troops. -
2nd Continental Congress
The 2nd Continental Congress, occurred in the spring of 1775 in Philadelphia, PA During this meeting, it was decided that a Continental Army should be created. The Congress appointed George Washington to be the supreme commander, who chose to serve without pay. -
Olive Branch Petition
A petition directed to the King of England from the colonists that said that they still wanted to be subjects of Great Britain and the King of England but that the taxes must change if the King wants them to stay apart of the Empire. In the end, The King never read the petition. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a document issued by the colonies directed at the King of England and Great Britain which stated the Colonies would be leaving the Empire to create its own nation. This document is considered the official document that started off the Revolutionary War.
