-
Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was an act passed to keep the colonist from expanding westward past the Appalachian Mountains. It was developed to decrease tensions between the English and the Native Americans. The American Colonists were unhappy with the proclamation because it required those who were living on Native American to evacuate eastward despite how they had been living there. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was the first law passed by Parliament that raised tax revenues in the colonies for the crown. It increased duty on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies. The colonist grew infurior of this tax, causing them to boycott luxury good imported from Great Britain. The phrase "no taxation without representation" was first seen in response to the sugar act. -
Currency Act
The Currency Act was the British ban on printing colonial money in order to alleviate British creditors' fears of being payed in the depreciated currency of the colonists. This act banned the production of paper money in the colonies in an effort to combat the inflation caused by Virginia's decision to get itself out of debt by issuing more paper money. The Colonists were upset with this act because they could not maintain their economic activity, let alone pay their debt/taxes. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was an act passed by the British Parliment in 1756 that raised revenue from the American colonies by a duty in the form of a stamp required on all newspapers and legal or commercial documents, infuriated the colonies. The colonist were enraged by this act, which caused a multitude of boycotts to even the attacks on tax collectors. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act required the colonists to provide food, lodging, and supplies for the British troops in the colonies. The colonists were infuriated by this act because they were being taxed to pay for barracks for the soilders, but the soilders were staying in their homes. -
Declatory Act
The Declatory Act was a declaration by the British Parliament that accompanied the repeal of the Stamp Act. It stated that the British Parliament's taxing authority was the same in America as in Great Britain. The colonists were happy with this act because they felt their feeling were finally starting to be heard. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were a serious of acts that 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. As a result of this act, colonist boycotted, causing imports of British goods to fall 40 percent. The Boston Massacre also happened as a result of the Townshend Acts. -
Boson Massacre
In March 1770, a crowd of colonists protested against British customs agents and the presence of British troops in Boston. Violence flared and five colonists were killed. The Boston Massacre made American colonists infurior and became the turning point in the beginnings of the American revolution. -
Tea Act
The Tea Act was designed to aid the floundering East India Company and in fact made tea cheaper; however colonists felt that it broadsided colonial merchants and smugglers and was an effort to garner support for previous taxes. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a protest of the Tea Act, where a band of colonists, led by Sam Adams, disguised as Indians, rowed out to the boats and dumped tea chests into the harbor, approved by colonists. -
Intolerable Acts
Intolerable Acts were established by parliament to punish the people of Massachusetts for their actions in the Boston Tea Party. These acts made restrictions on town meetings, and stated that enforcing officials who killed colonists in the line of duty would be sent to Britain for trial (where it was assumed they would be acquitted of their charges). -
Meeting of the Continental Congress
The Meeting of the Continental Congress was when group of colonial leaders that met to discuss how to take action against the British. This was the first meeting of this kind in North America. In these meeting they discussed: Made lists of Colonial Rights, lists of violations by the British of Colonial Rights, and a plan to restore those rights.