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Treaty of Paris signed
The Treaty of Paris is signed, marking the end of the French and Indian War. The colonists defeated the Frech and gained the land from the Mississippi to the Appalachian Mountains. France retained it's fishing rights off Newfoundland. -
Writs of Assistance
Authorized customs officers to do general searches for contraband, which details and locations did not have to be specific.
(Date not specific) -
Sugar Act
The first tax legalized which reduced the sales tax on molasses. Other foreign goods that were taxed included sugar, certain wines, coffee, pimiento, cambric, and printed calico. -
Stamp Act
Taxed all paper goods by having to buy a stamp to be placed on it before they were sold. Mobs boycotted the stamps by attacking distibutors of it. -
Declaratory Acts
This act stated that Parliament had the same rights in the colonies as it did in Britain and it could make laws on the colonies. -
Townshend Acts
Named after Charles Townshend who was Chancellor of the Exchequer. These were a series of laws which included he Revenue Act, Indemnity Act, Commissioners of Customs Act, Vice Admiralty Court Act, and the New York Restraining Act. he purpose of the Townshend Acts was to raise revenue in the colonies to pay the salaries of governors and judges. The colonists responded with many riots which eventually resulted in the Boston Massacre of 1770. -
Boston Massacre
Many Bostonians taunted the Red Coats stationed in Boston until the soldiers eventually fired into the crowd of civilians, hitting eleven men. Five of which who died. The colonists reacted to this by posting propaganda about the event around the colonies. -
Tea Act
Designed to help the East India Company which was burdened with eighteen million pounds of unsold tea. The tea was shipped to the colonies and sold at a bargain price. Radical leaders in the colonies believed that this act was a maneuver to buy support for the taxes already in force. -
Boston Tea Party
Colonists dumped tea into the Boston harbor while dressed as indians to boycott the Tea Act. It was a key event in the growth of the Revolution and still remains an iconic event in American history. -
Intolerable Acts
Another name for them is the Coercive Acts. The Intolerable Acts include the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, the Quartering Act, and the Quebec Act. The colonists saw these acts as a violation of their constitutional and natural rights. As well as their colonial charters. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The start of the American Revolution, also known as "the shot heard around the world"