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Proclamation
In the fall of 1763, a royal decree was issued that prohibited the North American colonists from establishing or maintaining settlements west of an imaginary line running down the crest of the Appalachian Mountains. -
Sugar Act
The British placed a tax on sugar, wine, and other important things. They did this because they wanted more money to help provide more security for the colonies. The security was expensive because of the Indians and fights with foreign powers. The British also hoped that the act would force colonists to sell their goods to Britain as opposed to selling to other countries. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament to impose a tax on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. The money collected by the Stamp Act was to be used to help pay the costs of defending and protecting the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering act forced American colonist to house and feed British forces who were serving in North America. This made the tension between the colonists and the British even worse. -
Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act Congress was held in New York City attended by twenty-seven representatives from 9 of the thirteen colonies. When the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act, colonists were more than eager to show their displeasure towards it. The Colonists felt that the time had come for them to fight back and claim what is rightly theirs, a land free of oppressors. -
Declaratory Act
The Declaratory Act stated that the British Parliament’s taxing authority was the same in America as in Great Britain. This asserted its complete authority to make binding laws on the American colonies “in all cases whatsoever.” This act served to extinguish any celebration that would follow the repeal of the Stamp Act. -
Townshend Acts
It was a tax placed on various household items such as paper, glass, silk, and tea. Colonist started boycotting this act and eventually it was revoked. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston massacre was when the british killed 5 people during a street fight. -
Tea Act
Tea merchants in the colonies were cut off from the tea trade because the British East India Company lowered their tea prices.The company controlled tea sales in the colonies. The Boston Tea Party happened because of this. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party took place when a group of Massachusetts Patriots, The Sons of Liberty, went to the docs and dumped 90,000 pounds of tea into Boston Harbor. They did this to protest the monopoly on American tea importation. -
Coercive Acts
The Coervice Acts were a series of acts passed by Parliament having to do with Britain's colonies in North America. These acts were also known as the Intolerable Acts. All of these acts had a big part of the uprising. -
1st Continental Congress
The 1st Continental Congress was a convention of thirteen North American delegates to discuss their anger towards the Parliament. -
Quebec Act
A law approved by Parliament which extended Quebec's boundary south to the Ohio River and benefited the French Catholic region's inhabitants. -
Battles of Lexington/Concord
The battles of Lexington and Concord were the starting of the American Revolution. The first shots were fired at Lexington, Massachusetts. This battle was the opening of armed bitterness between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies. -
2nd Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a meeting of colonies in an attempt to arrest the patriots that publicly voiced their unhappiness against the crown. -
Olive Branch Petition
John Dickinson drafted the Olive Branch Petition, which was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 5 and submitted to King George on July 8. It was an attempt to assert the rights of the colonists while maintaining their loyalty to the British crown. King George refused to read the petition and on August 23 proclaimed that the colonists had "proceeded to open and avowed rebellion." -
Declaration of Independence
With the Revolutionary War in full swing, the movement for independence from Britain had grown. Delegates of the Continental Congress were faced with a vote on the issue. A five-man committee was tasked with drafting a formal statement of the colonies' intentions. The Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence, written mostly by Jefferson, in Philadelphia on July 4, a date now celebrated as the birth of American Independence.
