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Proclamation of 1763
A proclamation from the British government which forbade British colonists from settling west of the Appalacian Mountains, and which required any settlers already living west of the mountains to move back east. Fur traders needed royal permission to enter the territory. -
Sugar Act of 1764
First law ever passed by Parliament for raising tax revenue in the colonies for the crown; among various provisions, it increased the duty on foreign sugar and molasses. The money from the tax was used to help pay off Britain's debts from The Seven Year's War -
Stamp Act of 1765
The Stamp Act was passed so the British Parliament could pay for their troops. Law placing a tax on all printed material in the colonies, including, but not limited to, stamps, legal documents, newspapers, playing cards, etc. All printed materials were required to be printed on special stamped paper or have a special stamp attached to it, which meant that the tax had been paid for. -
Quartering Act of 1765
Law that required the colonists to provide housing, food, and drink to British troops stationed in their towns with the purpose of improving living conditions and decreasing the cost to the crown. -
Stamp Act Congress
Group of colonists who protested the Stamp Act, saying that Parliament couldn't tax without colonists' consent. The Stamp Act Congress brought together 27 delegates from nine colonies in New York. After much debate, the members drew up a statement of their rights and grievances and adressed the king and Parliament. (from October 7th to the 25th) -
Declaratory Act 1766
Passed at the same time that the Stamp Act was repealed, the Act declared that Parliament had the power to tax the colonies both internally and externally, and had absolute power over the colonial legislatures -
Townshend Acts
taxes on common items such as tea, lead, glass, and dyes for paint. Great Britain now payed the governors and judges of Massachussets (June 26, 29, and July 2) -
Boston Massacre 1770
The colonials hated the British soldiers in the colonies because the worked for very low wages and took jobs away from colonists. On March 5, 1770, a group of colonials started throwing rocks and snowballs at some British soldiers; the soldiers panicked and fired their muskets, killing a few colonials. This outraged the colonies and increased anti-British sentiment -
Tea Act 1773
To save the British East India Company from going bankrupt, Parliament allowed the East India Company to avoid navigation taxes when exporting tea to colonies and gave them power to monopolize tea trade. They were allowed to sell low-cost tea directly to the colonies, which angered colonists and threatened merchants and the colonial economy. -
Boston Tea Party
a raid on three British ships in Boston Harbor in which Boston colonists, disguised as Indians, threw the contents of several hundred chests of tea into the harbor as a protest against British taxes on tea and against the monopoly granted the East India Company -
Coercive Acts 1774
Responding to the Boston Tea Party, Britain passed the Coercive Acts: the Boston Port Act, which closed the port of Boston until damages from the Boston Tea Party were paid, the MA Government Act, which restricted Massachusetts democratic town meetings and turned the governor's council into an appointed body, the Administration of Justice Act, which made British officials immune to criminal prosecution in MA, the Quartering Act, and the Quebec Act. -
Quebec Act
part of the intolerable acts in the colonies, gave Quebec land of the Ohio Valley, allowed people there to have freedom of religion, which angered colonists who wanted that land -
1st Continental Congress
Delegates from 12 coloniesa,, except Georgia, gathered in Philadelphia. They met for seven weeks. They decided to boycott all British goods and to stop exporting goods to Britain. -
Battle of Lexington/Concord
first two battles of the Revolutionary War. The battles of Lexington and Concord initiated the Revolutionary War between the American colonists and the British. British governor Thomas Gage sent troops to Concord to stop the colonists who were loading arms. The next day, on April 19, 1775, the first shots were fired in Lexington, starting the war. The battles resulted in a British retreat to Boston. -
2nd Continental Congress
All colonies attended. Sent the Olive Branch Petition, created a Continental Army with George Washington as the leader, and agreed to write a formal letter declaring their independence from England -
Olive Branch Petition
the colonies made a final offer of peace to Britain, agreeing to be loyal to the British government if it addressed their grievances (repealed the Coercive Acts, ended the taxation without representation policies). It was rejected by Parliament, which in December 1775 passed the American Prohibitory Act forbidding all further trade with the colonies. -
Declaration of Independence
the document recording the proclamation of the second Continental Congress asserting the independence of the colonies from Great Britain
