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Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was created to help pay for British troops stationed in the colonies during the Seven Years' War. The act required colonists to pay a tax, represented by a stamp, on forms of paper. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a confrontation in Boston due to colonists verbally harassing and throwing snowballs(apparently filled with rocks) at the soldiers. The soldiers opened fire on the colonists, killing 5, injuring 6 others. -
Boston Tea Party
On the night of December 16, 1773, dozens of disguised men, some as Indigenous Americans, boarded the three East India Company ships and dumped 342 chests(millions of dollars worth) of tea into Boston Harbor. -
The Intolerable Acts
The British Parliament passed a series of laws collectively known as the Intolerable Acts, with the intent to suppress unrest in colonial Boston by closing the port and placing it under martial law. In response, colonial protests led by a group called the Sons of Liberty issued a call for a boycott. -
'Common Sense'
Common Sense made a clear case for independence and directly attacked the political, economic, and ideological obstacles to achieving it. Paine relentlessly insisted that British rule was responsible for nearly every problem in colonial society and that the crisis could only be resolved by colonial independence.