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Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation, established by British Parliament, was passed after the French at the end of the French and Indian War. It prohibited the colonists from settling beyond the Appalachian Mountains, a move that angered many Americans. Parliament’s intention wasn’t to oppress the American colonists, but the settle conflicts with the Natives in the area. The Proclamation of 1763 caused the first major revolt against the British; many colonists headed west in defiance of the Proclamation. -
Sugar Act
Prime Minister Grenville ordered the Navigation Laws to be strictly enforced and the Sugar Act in 1764 in order to offset the nation’s debt after the Seven Years’ War, which was partly incurred defending the American colonies. The Sugar Act was the first law ever passed by Parliament raising revenue in the colonies for the crown. It increased the price of foreign sugar imported from the West Indies. After bitter protests, the tax was lower and agitation died down. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act of 1765 required certain colonies to provide food and quarters for British troops. -
Stamp Act Congress
Stamp Act Congress VideoThe 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 beseeched the king and Parliament to repeal the repugnant legislation. -
Stamp Act
In 1765, Grenville passed the Stamp Act in order to raise money to support the new military force. The Stamp Act mandated the use of stamped paper or the affixing of stamps, certifying payment of tax. Stamps were required on bills of sale for about fifty trade items as well as on certain types of commercial and legal documents, including playing cards, pamphlets, newspapers, diplomas, bills of lading, and marriage licenses. -
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British Troops Occupy Boston
British Troops Occupy BostonAfter the avid protests to the Stamp Act and the subsequent smuggling from the Townshend Acts, British officials placed two regiments of troops in Boston in 1768 to secure order. Many soldiers were drunken and profane characters. The liberty-loving colonists taunted the “bloody backs” unmercifully. -
Boston Massacre
Boston Massacre
Resentful of the two regimes of British troops that had been sent to Boston in response to the protests and smuggling, a crowd of 60 townspeople set upon a squad of 10 redcoats. Acting without orders, but with extreme provocation, the troops opened fire and killed 5 and wounded 6 “innocent” citizens. Both sides were in some degree to blame, and in the subsequent trial, only two of the redcoats were found guilty. -
Declaratory Act
Declatory ActsParliament passed this act in response to the Stamp Act repeal. It affirmed Parliament’s right to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever. It stressed bsolute and unqualified authority over its North American colonies. The colonists had already demonstrated they wanted a measure of power and would undertake drastic action to secure it. -
Townshend Acts Repealed (except tea)
Acts Repealed The Townshend Acts failed to produce revenue, but they did produce near-rebellion. The nonimportation agreements protesting the Acts hurt the British merchants. The government of Lord North finally persuaded Parliament to repeal the Townshend taxes, however, the three pence tax on tea-the most irksome tax to the colonists-was retained to keep alive the principle of parliamentary taxation. -
Boston Tea Party
The British East India Trading Company, overburdened with 17 million pounds of unsold tea, looked to the American colonies to sell it. However, the colonists protested the importation of the tea because they refused to pay the tax on it. Although the tea from the trading company was much cheaper, even with the three pence tax, principle was more important than price. In Boston, a group of colonists dressed as Indians smashed open 342 chests of tea and emptied it into the harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
Intolerable Acts for KidsIn response to the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passes the Intolerable Acts. Most drastic of all was the Boston Port Act, which closed the harbor until damages were paid and order could be ensured. Also, many of the chartered rights of colonial Massachusetts were swept away. Restrictions were placed on town meetings. British officials who killed rebellious American colonists would be tried in Britain where, the Americans assumed, they would be likely to get off easily. -
Quebec Act
Quebec Act ConsequenceThe Quebec Act was aimed at controlling the large population of French settlers gained after the French and Indian war. Parliament permitted the French to retain their Catholic religion as well as many of their old customs, which did not include trail by jury. Also, the Quebec boundaries were extended to the Ohio River. Many Americans wrongly assumed that Parliament’s next step would be to enforce Catholicism and eliminate trails by jury. -
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Battle of Lexington
Fun FactsA British commander sent a detachment of troops to Lexington to seize colonial gunpowder and to eliminate rebel leaders, Samuel Adams and John Hancock. At Lexington, the colonial men refused to surrender and disperse, so the British shot and killed 8 Americans and wounded several more. -
Battle of Concord
Battle of Lexington and Concord
After the Battle of Lexington, the redcoats pushed to Concord, however, this time the Americans were prepared. The redcoats suffered 300 casualties and 70 died. -
Second Continental Congress
All 13 colonies attended the Second Continental Congress. At the meeting, there was still no well-defined sentiment for Independence, merely a desire to continue fighting in the hope that Parliament would consent to a redress of grievances. The Congress drafted new appeals to the British, but their ideas were spurned. During the meeting, delegates also adopted measures to raise money and to create an army and a navy. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
More Info HereAlthough a defeat for the colonists, the battle quickly proved a moral victory for the Patriots, out numbered and out-gunned, they held their own against the British and suffered many fewer casualties. -
Publication of Thomas Paine's Common Sense
NPRPaine’s book was one of the most influential pamphlets ever written. The book encouraged American independence arguing that the tiny island of Britain shouldn’t control the vast American continent.
