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French and Indian War
The French and Indian War was fought between the French and British from 1756 to 1763. This was fought for land in North America across the British and French colonies. The British won this war and land east of the colonies because if the blockade they put on the French. This was ended by the Treaty of Paris. -
Proclamation of 1763
After the initial joy of winning the 7 years war, Parliament passed the Proclamation of 1763, which prohibited any emigrating past the 13 colonies. This was very upsetting for the colonists because they had just fought a war for land that they are not even allowed to see. This was one of the major causes of the Revolutionary War. -
Stamp Act
This act, passed by Parliament in 1765, put a tax on almost every product that was printed in the colonies. This was passed to make the colonies pay for the war indirectly, and was the first time Parliament put a direct tax on the colonies. -
Quartering Act
Another one of the unpopular acts passed by Parliament, the Quartering Act, forced colonists top house, feed, and clothe British soldiers for a certain amount of time. -
Townshend Acts
This act, passed by Parliament, put a tax on glass, paper, oil, paint, lead and tea. This raised about 40,000 pounds for Britain in only one year. -
The Boston Massacre
A large group of colonists gathered at the house of commons. There were about 9 British soldiers guarding the house of commons. The colonists insulted amd taunted the soldiers to shoot, until one soldier was hit in the head with a club and he shot in the crowd. The rest of the soldiers began to shoot, killing three civilians instantly and two died later on. This was used as propaganda to begin to create a need for retaliation from the colonists and changed the mentality of many. -
The Boston Tea Party
After English Parliament passed a law allowing the British East India Company to sell directly to the colonists, the colonists became even more mad. They believed that England was trying to trick them into paying taxes by buying "cheaper" tea. On December 16th colonists, disguised as Indians, dumped tea from three different British ships into the Boston Harbor. This became known as the Boston Tea Party. -
The Coercive Acts
The Coercive Acts include the Boston Port Act, the Quartering Act, Adminstration of Justice Act, and the Massachusetts Government Act. In general, Parliament closed the the Boston port. Also, colonists had to feed and house any soldier from England because of the Quartering Act. Town meetings were also limited to one a month without the governor's permission. -
The First Continental Congress
All the colonies, except Georgia, sent delegates to meet in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Althought it was not official, this is argued to be America's first government. They decided to boycott all British imports to try to ge the Coercive Acts taken away. However some of the delegates were arguing that they weren't separate colonies anymore, they were Americans. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
British troops were sent to Lexington to arrest John Adams and other patriot politicians and to take away weapons that the patriots had gained. 70 patriots gathered in Lexington Green to fight the British soldiers. The patriots, known as minutemen, chased the British troops away from Lexington to Boston. This was the first battle of the Revoloutionary War.
