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Proclomation of 1763
The Royal Proclomation was issued by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War. it forbade settlers from settling past a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains. The purpose of the proclamation was to organize Great Britain's new North American empire and to stabilize relations with Native North Americans through regulation of trade, settlement, and land purchases on the western frontier. -
Sugar Act of 1764
A revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain. Taxes were placed on foreign refined sugar and increased taxes on coffee, indigo, and certain kinds of wine. It banned importation of rum and French wines. These taxes affected only a certain part of the population, but the affected merchants were very vocal. This was one of the first instances in which colonists wanted a say in how much they were taxed. -
Stamp Act of 1765
Stamp Act placed taxes on all printed items and did not go into affect until the following November. The purpose for the tax was to help pay for troops stationed in North America after the British won the French and Indian War. -
Quartering Act 1765
This act required the colonies to house British soldiers in barracks provided by the colonies. Many colonial citizens refused to house or support the troops. -
Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act Congress was a meeting held in NewYork City. Delagates gathered to say their rejections to the Stamp Act and to deny Parliament's right to tax the British Colonies. -
Declaratory Act 1766
Laws approved by the Parliament that declared its right to make laws governing its American colonies. -
Townshend Acts
A series of acts passed beginning in 1767 by the Parliament of Great Britain named after Charles Townshend, Chancellor of Exchequer. The laws placed duties on certain items imported by the colonists. -
Boston Massacre
Incident that occurred when British soldiers fired into a group of colonists and several people were killed and many were wounded by this attack. -
Tea Act
Parliament passed a law that excluded the British Dutch West India Company from paying certain duties and them to sell tea directly to Americans, concluding with the fall of tea prices. Colonists responded to this with the Boston Tea Party. -
Boston Tea Party
Protest against the Tea Act when a group of colonists boarded British ships and dumped 342 chests of tea (worth millions) into the Boston Harbor. -
Coercive Acts 1774
A series of laws passed by the British Parliament relating to Britain's colonies in North America. Among these acts were the Boston Port act, March 31, Massachusetts Bay Regulating Act, May 20, Administartion o f Justice Act, May 20, and the Quartering Act, June 2. -
Quebec Act
A law approved by Parliament which extended Quebec's boundary south to the Ohio River and granted full religious freedom to French Roman Catholics. -
First Continental Congress
A convention help with colonial delagates to discuss threir objection against Parliament. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The first shots starting the revolution were fired at Lexington, Massachusetts. British General Thomas Gage sent 700 soldiers to destroy guns and ammunition the colonists had stored in the town of Concord, just outside of Boston. They also planned to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, two of the key leaders of the patriot movement. -
Second Continental Congress
Meeting of colonies held in Philadelphia to decide how to react to fighting at Lexington and Concord. -
Olive Branch Petition
With the Olive Branch Petition, they made one last attempt to find a peaceful end to the revolution. On July 5, Congress drafted the Olive Branch Petition. It outlined their issues and asked the British government to respond and deal with them. King George III of England refused to accept the petition. -
Declaration of Independence
In June 1776, a five-man committee including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin were tasked with writing a formal statement of the colonies' intentions. Accepted in Philadelphia in July, America was now free from British rule.
