-
The French and Indian War
This war solidified Britain's hold on the continent. this was important because several European countries became involved. It changed the relationship between the colonies and Britain. Britain settled in North America due to this war. They began to colonize. -
Proclamation of 1763
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War, which forbade all settlement past a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains. -
Sugar Act
The sugar act raised taxes on items being shipped into the american colonies such as sugar, wine, coffee, dyes and cloth. This was an action made to control the colonists from afar. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act commanded by law that specific colonies supplied food and shelter/quarters for members of the British troops. This was another one of the rules imposed under Britain that sparked anger and distrust. This also began to spark the claim of "taxation without representation" among colonists. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was a tax created on paper goods like playing cards, newspapers, books, and all legal documents. Similar to the Sugar Act, this was to hopefully keep control over the colonists. -
Declaratory Act
The American Colonies Act, commonly known as the Declaratory Act, was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, which accompanied the repeal of the Stamp Act 1765 and the changing and lessening of the Sugar Act. Britain hoped this would encourage colonists to support their authority. -
Townshend Act
The English added more taxes on the colonies on imports of lead, glass, paint, paper and tea. What makes this important is it also angered the colonies because they did not like the ruling of Great Britain and yet they are still taxing them. Something needed to change -
Boston Massacre
The hard feelings about housing troops due to the Quartering Act created angry colonists. On March 5, 1770, a group of around 10 soldiers were confronted by a crowd of approximately 60 residents of Boston, armed with clubs and taunting them. No order to fire was given, but the group was pressured, outnumbered, and provoked so they fired. Eleven "innocent" citizens were wounded or killed by British hands; Although it is unclear as to what exactly happened, this angered colonists even more. -
Tea Act
Because the British East India Company was bordering bankruptcy, the London government could lose lots of money. The Tea Act was to sell BEI's unsold tea at rollback prices to colonists via British agents. Instead of celebrating this finance-savvy move of the British government, the colonists remained angry at the tax and felt deceived. They felt they could not trust Britain. -
Boston Tea Party
Colonists at ports throughout the colonies refused the tea or boldly made the ships return to Britain full. At the Boston port, the Massachusetts governor refused to budge or be persuaded and the tea ships were ordered not to leave until their cargo was unloaded. Annoyed and rowdy, a group of men disguised as Indians boarded these ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston harbor. Some praised them for their bold and zealous demonstration, while others remained disgusted. -
Coercive Acts
A series of British measures passed in 1774 and designed to punish the Massachusetts colonists for the Boston Tea Party. For example, one of the laws closed the port of Boston until the colonists paid for the tea that they had destroyed. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies who met from September 5 to October 26, 1774 at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania early in the American Revolution. During this meeting colonists drafted a declaration of rights. -
The First Battle of the Revolutionary War
Tensions had been building for many years between residents of the 13 American colonies and the British authorities, particularly in Massachusetts. On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord in order to seize an arms cache. This sparked the first battle of the Revolutionary War. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
On June 17, 1775, the British defeated the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill in Massachusetts. Despite their loss, the inexperienced colonial forces inflicted significant casualties against the enemy, and the battle provided them with an important confidence boost. -
Declaration of Independence
The thirteen American colonies, then at war with the Kingdom of Great Britain, regarded themselves as thirteen independent sovereign states, no longer under British rule. These states would found a new nation – the United States of America.
