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Navigation Acts (start in 1651)
These acts were more laws established by the British to control the trade, shipping, ships, and commerce of the colonies and the British. They did this by making sure all goods were exported on English ships or from where the goods came from, making sure the cargo was taxed, not letting anything already made in England e exported from the colonies, etc. (They started in 1651 and they lasted for quite some time. -
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French and Indian War
This was a war that lasted seven years and it was fought between Great Britain and France. This war inevitably led Britain to being in debt. -
Sugar Act
After the war, because the British were in debt they decided to tax their people. They first did this by creating the Sugar Act. This was a tax on the importation of molasses, a tax on sugar, coffee, wine, indigo,etc. -
Stamp Act
The British still weren't satisfied so they created another act called the Stamp Act. This was a tax on all paper goods. Although, due to the continual protesting,petitioning, and boycotting by the colonists, the act was later repealed. -
Quartering Act
The British then made another ac called the Quartering Act. This is where the colonists were required to provide housing and other supplies for British soldiers. This was to help the British find yet another way to save money. -
Townshend Acts
This was a series of acts/taxes that the British placed on the colonists. This put a tax on all kinds of products like tea, glass, lead sand paint. -
Boston Massacre
Since their were these taxes and the colonists didn't approve, this led to protests. The Boston Massacre in particular was a regular protest that ended up bloody after someone struck one of the Redcoats. In the end, 5 were dead and 6 were injured of a crowd of unarmed protestors. -
Boston Tea Party
By this time, the colonists had become greatly agitated by the taxes, especially the Tea Act, and they weren't going to stand for it. To show this, a group of colonists dressed as Indians snuck onto the Tea ships in the Boston Harbor. They then dumped over 90,000 pounds of tea into the harbor to prove their point. -
The Intolerable Acts
After seeing what the colonists did, the British set into motion a series of acts to punish the colonists. This included closing the Boston Harbor, Banning Town Meetings, issuing a new Quartering Act and sending British officials accused of crime to trial. -
Quartering Act II
This was an revised version of the first quartering act that only allowed the British soldiers to stay in unoccupied buildings or hotels. -
First Continental Congress
This was where delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies came together to meet in response to the Intolerable Acts. They met to establish a boycott on British goods until the Intolerable Acts were revoked. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
This was where the British marched on Concord to confiscate military supplies of the rebels. When the Patriots met them in Lexington, fighting took place and it ended with 122 dead,213 wounded and 31 missing in total. This was the first shot of the revolutionary war. -
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American Revolutionary War
This was a war initiated by the 13 American Colonies against Great Britain because of their protest to the taxes and acts made by the British government. -
Second Continental Congress
This is where the Congress met again in Philadelphia to discuss and coordinate their resistance to the British rule. At this meeting, they appointed George Washington as the Head of the Military. -
Olive Branch Petition
This was a petition sent to the King as a last attempt to avoid war between the British and the colonies. It listed the rights of the colonists as British citizens and they pledged their loyalty to Britain. Unfortunately this did not work and they were eventually led to war. -
"Common Sense" Published
On this date in time, Thomas Paine published his 47 paged pamphlet advocating independence. This was the colonies independence from Great Britain. -
The Decleration Of Independence
On this date in time, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. It officially announced the colonies' separation from Great Britain. It was later signed on August 2nd, 1776. -
Articles of Confederation
On this date, the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation. This was the first constitution of the U.S. -
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Shays' Rebellion
This was an uprising that was armed and it evidently exposed the weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation. It also called for strengthening the federal government. It was located in Western Massachusetts. -
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Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention was a meeting that happened between 55 delegates at the old Pennsylvania State House. They originally came together to revise the A.O.C., but then they ended up writing the first constitution written for any nation.
