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French and Indian War
War from 1756 to 1763 between France and Great Britain for supremacy in North Carolina. -
Proclamation of 1763
British statement that colonists could not settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. -
Sugar Act
Colonial merchants were required to pay a tax of 6 pence per gallon for foreign molasses. -
Stamp Act
British law placing a tax on printed colonial matter (paper products). -
Quartering Act
British 1760s law requiring colonists to supply the basic needs of soldiers- 3rd Amendment protects Americans from this. -
Townshend Act
Laws passed by the British government on the American colonies. New taxes on imports of paper, paint, glass, lead, and tea were made. -
Boston Massacre
Violent confrontation between British troops and colonists. British soldiers killed several people while being harassed by a mod in Boston. -
Tea Act
Lowering the tea taxes that were paid to the British government, this allowed tea to be shipped directly to the colonies. -
Boston Tea Party
Led by Samuel Adams, colonists dressed up as Indians and threw tea over the Boston Harbor. -
Coercive/Intolerable Acts
British laws passed to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party. One of these laws closed the port of Boston until the colonists paid for the tea that was destroyed. -
First Continental Congress
Delegates from the colonies met in reaction to the Coercive Acts. -
Shot Heard Around The World
Someone fired a shot when the first fights of the Revolutionary War begun. Ralph Waldo Emerson described it as "the shot heard round the world" because he knew that the Revolutionary War and USA would always be important to many people. -
Second Continental Congress
They talked about raising armies, appointing diplomats, and they wrote treaties as the Declaration of Necessity of Taking Up Arms and the Olive Branch Petition. Seeking reconciliation with Great Britain or declaring independence was a major decision that would be made in the future. -
Common Sense
Written by Thomas Paine, this document called for independence from Great Britain. -
Declaration of Independence
Written by Thomas Jefferson, this pronouncement declared freedom of the thirteen American colonies from Great Britain.