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French and Indian War ends
The French and Indian War was the North American conflict, an imperial war between Great Britain and France. The French and Indian War began in 1754. It ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. -
Stamp Act
A new tax that required a stamp for all printed items. The Parliament introduced this act because there was a need for money. The colonists were angry. -
Stamp Act Congress
The colonies decided to organize and sent representatives to a meeting in New York City. They discussed the colonists' rights as British subjects, declaring that only their colonial legislatures had the power to tax them. -
Stamp Act Repealed
Colonist protested against the Stamp Act. They wrote letters and newspaper articles urging colonists to refuse to pay the tax. Sons of Liberty formed and attacked the office and home of the stamp commissioner. Under all the pressure from the colonists, Britain ultimately decided to repeal the Stamp Act. -
Declaratory Act passed
In the same year as the Stamp Act was repealed, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act stating that it had all power to make laws that were strong enough to keep the people in the colonies under Great Britain's control. It stated that any laws the colonies made that denied or called into question -
Townshend Acts Passed
A series of laws passed by the British government on the American colonies in 1767. They placed new taxes and took away some freedoms from the colonists including the following: New taxes on imports of paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea. -
Boston Massacre
A confrontation on March 5, 1770 in which British soldiers shot and killed several people while being harassed by a mob in Boston. -
Townshend Acts Repealed
The British parliament repealed the Townshend duties on all but tea. Pressure from British merchants was partially responsible for the change. The British government, led by Prime Minister Lord North, maintained the taxes on tea, in order to underscore the supremacy of parliament. -
Tea Act Passed
Passed by Parliament on May 10, 1773, granted the British East India Company Tea a monopoly on tea sales in the American colonies. The passing of the Tea Act imposed no new taxes on the American colonies. -
Boston Tea Party
Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawk Indians dumped crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act and its provisions for taxation of tea. -
Coercive Acts Passed
A series of laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774, relating to Britain's colonies in North America. Passed in response to the Boston Tea Party, the Coercive Acts sought to punish Massachusetts as a warning to other colonies. -
First Continental Congress
Each colony, except for Georgia, sent delegates to meet in Philadelphia in 1774. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies in America which united in the American Revolutionary War. -
Revolutionary War Begins
The American Revolution was a time when the British colonists in America rebelled against the rule of Great Britain. There were many battles fought and the colonies gained their freedom and became the independent country of the United States. The American Revolutionary War lasted from 1775 until 1783. -
Declaration of Independence Signed
The Second Continental Congress, delegates signed the Declaration of Independence.
