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Royal Proclamation
The King issued a royal proclamation to avoid conflict with the Aboriginals. Even though they gained military control of the frontier, they could not protect settlers from an Aboriginal attack. The British barred settlement west of the Appalachian Mountians, and fur traders were only allowed to pass with royal permission. The Colonists were angry that they were not permitted to expand their territory, and ignored the policy (as it was not well enforced). -
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Causes of the American Revolution
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The Sugar Act
After the Indian and French war, Britian was in a vast amount of debt. To pay off this debt Britian deided to tax it's colonist, and a way of doing this was to impose imort tax on foreign sugar, molasses, etc. The colonists were not happy with this policy, they smuggled the taxed goods. Smuggled goods forced the crown to send royal inspectors, who searched houses, ships, and warehouses. Judges woud preside without juries and hear smuggling cases. -
The Stamp Act
The stamp act was another way for the British to make money. Since the colonists did not obey the Sugar Act it taxed them on printed matter such as advertisment, diplomas, legal documents, newspaper, a d playing cards. The colonists intensely opposed. Merchants signed a nonimportation agreement, which would prevent them from buying or selling British goods. The Sons of Liberty formed and harassed stamp agents, and the colonial assemblies met in protest in May 1765. -
Declaratory Act
The Declaratory Act was created and recieved little reaction from the colonists, as it had been passed at the same time the Stamp Act had been repealed. This policy gave full authority to the parliament to make laws, and to bind the colonies and people of America. The British did this so they would not have as much opposition, which helped them with the Townshend Act. -
Townshend Act
The Townshend Act was created to gather more money from the colonists, it had import tax on tea, glass, paint, and lead. Britian used the Writ of Assistance to enforce this policy, they thought the colonists would not oppose because they were not getting charged inside the colonies. The settlers openly refused the Writ of Assistance, and wrote a protest letter against "taxation without representation". Britian sent more troops in response, and dissolved assemblies. Colonists made their own cloth -
Boston Massacre
The colonist were unhappy with the British, an angry mob of 50-60 people formed and threw snowballs, stones, insults, coal, and oyster shells at a small group of British soldiers. One soldier was knocked down and as he fell his un went off, the rest of the officers open fired on the mob, five colonists died. The settlers rebelled thinking that it was a massacre of innocent citizens, The parliament revoked the Townshend and Quarter act in order to diffuse the situation. -
Tea Act
The British East India Company was going bankrupt, and so the British decided to let them have a monopoly over the colonists in order to save the organization. They did not have to pay certain taxes either. The Americans stopped buyong tea, they were afraid that Britian would give other companies a monopoly over them with different products. The Sons of Liberty threw a million dollars worth of tea in the Boston harbour, this event would labelled as the Boston Tea Party. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts consisted of four policies. The first one was that the Boston harbour be closed until the damaged goods were paid for, and the second was thet the Massachusetts charter of 1691 was revoked (no town mettings without permission). The third rule was that officials charged with other crimes in Massachusetts be tried in another colony, and finally a new Quarter Act was put in place. The colonists denounced the actions of the king and parliament as threats to colonial liberty. -
Quebec Act
The Quebec Act extended Quebecs boundary south to the Ohio River, overriding the claims of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia to disputed western lands. It also allowed the French Roman Catholic to practice their religion in peace. The British wanted to avoid conflict with the colonists there but angered the ones in America, who had wanted that territory for a while. This caused te first Continental Congress in Philidelphia.
