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Causes and Events of the American Revolution
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End of French and Indian War
This war began in 1754. The costs of the war contributed to the British government’s decision to impose new taxes on its American colonies. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act placed a tax on sugar and molasses. The act also taxed coffee, cambric and printed calico, and regulated the export of lumber and iron. -
Stamp Act
Imposed a direct tax on the British colonies in America and required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, -
Townshend Acts
Four Acts that:
1. Imposed new taxes on imports of paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea.
2. Established an American Customs Board in Boston to collect taxes.
3. Set up new courts in America to prosecute smugglers (without using a local jury).
4. Gave British officials the right to search colonists' houses and businesses. -
Boston Massacre
In Boston, a small British army detachment that was threatened by mob harassment opened fire and killed five people. -
Boston Tea Party
Protesting both a tax on tea (taxation without representation) and the monopoly of the East India Company, members of the Sons of Liberty dressed as native Americans and boarded ships. They dumped £10,000 worth of tea into the harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
Angry at the American Colonists, Britain imposed these four acts:
1. Boston Harbor was closed to trade.
2. An Act to better regulate the government of the Massachusetts Bay in New England.
3, An act for the impartial administration of justice. British officials and soldiers to be tried outside the colonies.
4. An Act extending the Province of Quebec into the Ohio Valley. -
First Continental Congress
In response to the Intolerable Acts, the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia. Fifty-six delegates represented all the colonies except Georgia. -
Paul Revere's ride and Battles of Lexington and Concord
Paul Revere rode from Charlestown to Lexington, in Massachusetts, to warn that the British were marching from Boston to seize the colonial armory at Concord. The British were met on Lexington Green by 77 local minutemen and others. It is unclear who fired the first shot. At Concord, the British were met by hundreds of militiamen. Outnumbered and running low on ammunition, the British column was forced to retreat to Boston. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Part of the American siege of British-held Boston. Some 2,300 British troops eventually cleared the hill of the entrenched Americans, but at the cost of more than 40 percent of the assault force. The battle was a moral victory for the Americans. -
Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" Is Published
Pamphlet that spoke in direct language about the need for independence. It sold more than 100,000 copies within a few months. -
Declaration of Independence Adopted
The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson and revised by the Congress. On July 2 the Congress voted for independence; on July 4 it adopted the Declaration of Independence.
