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Jamestown
Jamestown was important because it was the first English settlement in the new world. -
Virginia House of Burgesses
The Virginia House of Burgesses were significant because they were the first democratically-elected legislative body in the American colonies. -
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was the first attempt at self government in American History. The colonists agreed to choose their leaders obey laws in which they agreed to follow. -
Bacon's Rebellion
Bacon's Rebellion was important because it was the first rebellion in the American colonies in which discontented frontiersmen took part. -
Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials were important because the foreshadowed the fragility of society when they were a perceived threat. -
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French and Indian War
The War provided Britain with great territorial gains in North America. Disputes erupted over frontier policy and paying the debt caused by the war led to colonial discontent and eventually the American Revolution. -
Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was enacted to fairly solve the problem with the Native Americans. It prohibited any settler from moving west of the Appalachian mountains. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was the first tax on American colonists. Its purpose was to raise revenue through colonial customs service and to give the customs agents more power/latitude in the law by executing seizures and enforcing the law. -
Stamp Act
This new tax was imposed on American colonists and required them to pay a tax on all printed materials -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act forced the American colonists to house British soldiers in their homes and taxed them to pay for provisions and barracks for the army. An army that the colonists thought was unnecessary during peacetimes. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were significant because they helped reignite anger that the colonists had against England. The colonists saw taxation without representation as an abuse of power. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre is important because British soldiers killed American colonists. This event infuriated the colonists and led to campaign speech-writers to rouse the ire of citizenry. -
Committees of Correspondence
The Committees of Correspondence were important because they set up the First Continental Congress. They also served a vital role in the Revolution by disseminating the colonial interpretation of British actions between colonial and foreign governments. -
Tea Act
The Tea Act was designed to bail the East India Company and expand the company's monopoly on tea trade to all British colonies. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party is important because of the way Britain and America reacted to this protest. The British government was furious about the actions of the colonists and therefore passed the Intolerable Acts, closed the Boston harbor and took away their self government until all of the tea was paid for. The colonists only hated the British more after these consequences and people in all 13 colonies were angry. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were important because they were a contributing factor to the American Revolution. Colonists felt that this legislation violated their rights as human beings and their rights as Englishmen. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was the first compact among the American colonies. They met in reaction to the Coercive Acts which were measures imposed by the British government in response to colonial resistance to the regulations. -
Lexington and Concord
The battles of Lexington and Concord were significant because they were the first battles of the Revolutionary War. -
Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was important because it was an attempt to assert the rights of the colonists while maintaining their loyalty to the British crown. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is important because it contains the first ideals/ goals of our nation. It contains the complaints of the colonists against the British King. It also explains why the colonists wished to seek freedom from the British rule.
