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Jamestown
Jamestown was the first successful colony set up by British empire. Without Jamestown there would be no successful predecessors to create America. -
Virginia House of Burgesses
This is the first democratically elected legislative body. This group met regularly until 1776, very important to the establishment of America. -
Mayflower Compact
It was the first democratic government to be established in the colonies. Written on the Mayflower by the colonist on their way to the New World -
Bacon's Rebellion
The effects and significance of Bacon's Rebellion in history is that the government in Virginia became frightened by the threat of Civil War. Bacon's Rebellion was the first rebellion in the American Colonies. The group was angered by the govts actions towards indians who had committed crimes towards colonists. -
Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials were responsible for the death of many women accused of witchcraft. This caused mass hysteria within the colonies and the people. This showed the degree of religious intolerance among the people at this time. -
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French and Indian War
This war set the stage for the American Revolution. The British gave the responsibility of paying back the debt of the war to the colonists. The Proclamation of 1763 angered the colonists which was one of the ends to salutary neglect. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was the first tax on the American colonies imposed by the British Govt. Its purpose was to raise revenue through the colonial goods and customs. -
Stamp Act
The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. This angered the colonists and caused many problems for the economy of America. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act required the colonists to house British soldiers -
Townshend Act
The taxes that were imposed by the Townshend Acts of 1767 were important because they helped to reignite anger in the colonies against England. Just the year before, Parliament had repealed the Stamp Tax after heated protests from the colonies. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a street fight between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a group of British soldiers. Several colonists were killed and this led to a campaign by speech-writers. -
Committees of Correspondence
The committees of correspondence were shadow governments organized by the colonist leaders of the 13 Colonies on the eve of the American Revolution. These served an important role in the Revolution, by spreading the colonial interpretation of British actions between the colonies and to foreign governments. -
Tea Act
It was designed to bail out the British East India Company and expand the company's monopoly on the tea trade to all British Colonies, selling excess tea at a reduced price. -
Boston Tea Party
A group of colonists dressed as indians and entered a ship to throw a huge amount of tea into the sea in the defiance of the Tea Act. -
Intolerable Acts
A series of laws passed to punish the colonists after the Boston Tea Party. -
First Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the 13 Colonies. It became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution. The Congress met from 1774 to 1789 in three groups. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The significance of these battles is that they were the first battles of the Revolutionary War. They happened because the British commander in Boston had heard of supplies of powder and weapons being kept by Patriots in the towns of Lexington and Concord. -
Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was a final attempt by the colonists to avoid going to war with Britain during the American Revolution. It was a document in which the colonists pledged their loyalty to the crown and asserted their rights as British citizens. -
Declaration of Independence
This document declared our independence from Britain and stated our grievances from Britain.
