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Writs of Assistance
In 1751 Britain made it so that customs officials to search for contraband on suspected people. This became a problem is 1761, because the act was supposed to expire, but was renewed because parliament voted to. People became angered by the random searchings. James Otis represented all merchants by challenging parliament when he went to court and tried to convince the court that the searchings violated the colonist natural rights. -
Treaty of Paris 1763
The signing of the treaty of paris was the ending to the French and Indian war. When it was signed it granted all of France's land east of the Mississippi river to Britain. Britain won the war because they had the help of the natives. Although they won, the war put Britain in Great debt. This caused Britain to end their solitary neglect with the American colonies, and started heavy taxation. -
Proclamation 1763
Pontiac natives became angered when the colonist drove out game from the Pontiac territory. The natives captured eight colonist and in response the colonist gave the natives a small-pox infested blanket. Extreme tension developed between the natives and the colonists. The proclamation was designed to end these conflicts and stated that colonist should not venture out west of the Appalachian mountains, however Britain did not enforce the rule. -
Sugar act
Britain was in great debt after the end of the French and Indian war. George Grenville was appointed by King George III, to get Britain out of the financial situation. Grenville persuaded parliament to pass the sugar act. The sugar act made it so that the tax on molasses was reduced, this would prevent smuggling. It enforced the colonist rights as a British citizen, which allowed Britain to govern the colonies more directly. Also it raised and put taxes on many imports. -
Currency Act
There was no gold or silver in the colonies, so they had no form of money. The only way to get money was to trade with Britain, because they controlled the currency of the colonies. The colonist then created a paper currency, however the system was in a form of loans and was unreliable. On September 1st 1764, Parliament signed the currency act, which rejected the colonies form of currency and instated a "hard currency" called the sterling pound -
Stamp Act
Again George Grenville, needs to find a way to get Britain out of debt, so he influenced Parliament to pass the stamp act. The stamp act allowed the government to add special taxes to most paper products and forced colonist to buy a special stamped paper for the products. The act was taken very seriously and enforced by the government. Colonist were angered by the act, which then caused a group called the Stamp Act Congress to form and oppose the stamp act. -
Virginia Resolves
The Virginia Resolves was a set of resolutions that virginia proposed in response to the stamp act. They stated that colonist should be treated equally to the people of Britain, no taxes should be set in place that would hard to manage by the people, and the Virginia General Assembly is the only group that can add taxes to the colony. The stamp Act was removed a year later, however Britain signed the declaratory act, which made it so that britain could make laws for the colonies. -
Stamp Act Congress and the Sons of Liberty
The Stamp Act Congress and Sons of Liberty are groups who opposed and challenged Britain ideas. The Sons of liberty worked against customs workers, and stamp agents. They prevented the sale of stamps and stated that they could only be taxed by Themselves. The Stamp act congress had merchants refuse to import from Britain until the stamp act was gone. They also created the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, which declared that parliament does not have the right to govern the colonies. -
Townshend act
Charles Townsend found a way to make money from the American colonies. Parliament then passed the Townshend Acts, which made it so that there were indirect taxes on certain items when imported, such as glass, lead, paint and paper. Also they added a high tax on tea which was the most popular drink in the colonies. As a result many merchants and the colonist were angered. -
British Seize the Liberty
After the Townshend act was instated a cargo ship named the Liberty came into port. A customs officer boarded the ship to collect taxes on the cargo. The captain of the ship refused to pay the full taxes and then locked the customs officer in the ships brig. The British found out about the indecent and then took the ship. This caused anger and mobs to start and the colonist demanded that the British ships leave Massachusetts -
2000 Troops Stationed in Boston
Colonists reacted badly toward the Townshend Act, so Britain sent 2000 troops to be stationed in Boston to maintain order and to enforce the Townshend Act. The troops were not friendly, they would evict people out of their home so that the troops had a place to sleep, and they did not treat the colonist kindly. Colonist became hostile towards the troops, and clashes broke out. -
Boston Massacre
The British troops stationed in Boston made the colonist hostile, and a angry mob gathered outside the customs office. The colonist would throw snowballs at the troops, and in return the threatened troops fired at the mob. A clash broke out leaving five colonist dead. Samuel Adams was quick to label the happenings as the Boston Massacre, showing it as an attack on defenceless colonists. This threatened the British, because colonist became outraged at the situation. -
Gaspee Burned
The Gaspee was a ship sent from Britain to prevent smuggling and to enforce the Townshend Act. The crew and captain were hated by many, because the crew would delay, harass and stop ships for unjust reasons. The Gaspee chased a small ship which lured the Gaspee to a sandbar. The Gaspee got beached on the sandbar. A group of merchants planned how to destroy the Gaspee, and they went to the trapped Gaspee in eight longboats and took the crew prisoners. The Gaspee was torched and blown up. -
Tea Act
To help get Britain out of debt, they passed the Tea Act. The Tea Act added a high tax on tea, which was the most popular drink in the colonies. The high taxes caused the colonist to become angered. the high taxes lead up to the Boston Tea Party -
Committee of Correspondence
The Committee of Correspondence was created to create an easy way of communication between the colonies. The crippling relationship with Britain made it important for the colonies to communicate. The committee opposed Britain's customs enforcement. It also gave the colonies an upper hand over Britain, because there was an easy way to communicate together. -
Boston Tea Party
In reaction to the Tea Act Boston, merchants refused to by tea from Britain. Samuel Adams and a members of The Sons of Liberty boarded 3 different ships and threw 342 boxes of tea overboard. The occurrence made a statement to show Britain the colonies rebellion. -
Intolerable act
Because of the Boston Tea Party and other acts of rebellion, the British felt that they needed to control the colonist more. To prevent further rebellion they raised taxes to restrict and suppress the colonists. -
Quebec Act
The Quebec Act was passed to punish the colonists for rebelling. The act extended the boundaries of Quebec and Canada. The colonist became furious and then they created The First Continental Congress. -
First Continental Congress
Because of the oppression that Britain put on America, the Colonist formed the First Continental Congress. Delegates from different colonies would meet in Philadelphia to try to improve the colonies. The congress represented all of the American colonies. -
Declaration of Resolves
The Declaration of Resolves was assembled by the First Continental Congress. The Declaration opposed Britain and caused the colonist to boycott trading with Britain. The Declaration was in result of the Intolerance Act. -
New England Restraining Act
In response to the Declaration of resolves with the colonists boycotting them, Britain passed the New England Restraining Act. The act made it so that the colonies depended on Britain for trade because they restricted trade with any other nation. The colonist became hostile because of this. -
Gage Orders Troops to Concord
Britain found out that the patriots were collecting and storing weapons in concord. General Gage sent troops to Concord to confiscate any weapons they find and also eliminate any high ranking patriots. However before the troops arrived in Concord the patriots heard that the British were coming to concord so the colonist moved and hid the weapons out of concord. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
Tensions between Britain and the colonist were at an all time high. The British planned to attack the patriots, but the patriots knew about the plan, and Paul Revere alerted the colonists that the British were planning to attack. The British marched from Boston to concord, and the patriots attacked the British in Lexington. This was the main spark of the Revolutionary War. -
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Revolutionary War
This time period is the span of the revolutionary war. -
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Siege of Boston
During this eleven month period the British occupied and held Boston. Throughout this period there were many attacks and battles by the colonist to reclaim Boston. The period was a major turning point in the war and proved that the colonist were strong enough to fight the British. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress became the governing force for the 13 colonies and represented them. The group created the first constitution, which was then replaced by the current constitution. -
Allen and Arnold Capture Fort Ticonderoga
Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen brought a group of militiamen to the Fort. They attacked at night, and surprised and captured the British garrison. It was a small scale battle, but in the victory they captured artillery which helped win later battles, also it served as a morale booster, because it was the first battle won by the colonists. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The battle took place during the Siege of Boston and early in the Revolutionary war. The battle happened on Breed's hill when the colonist found out that the British planned to station 1000 troops on the Boston hills. 2200 British troops landed in Boston Harbor and started marching towards Breed's Hill. The colonist fired a volley of bullets towards the British, they started to retreat, but then fought back. The colonist lost the battle, but dealt heavy damage, which acted as a morale booster. -
Olive Branch Petition
The petition was written by John Dickinson. The goal was to create a friendly relationship with Britain. It was written directly to King George III. Dickinson wanted to avoid breaking apart from britain, he did not want to become an independent from Britain. He tried to explain that the colonist were unhappy with the conditions that they were forced to live under, however the king refused to read the petition. The patriots became angry and attacked the British parliament and monarchy. -
Common Sense
While Britain oppressed the colonies greatly, Thomas Paine created the pamphlet called common sense. The pamphlet explained to the colonist that they should fight back against the british and declare their own freedom .Colonist were influenced greatly and promoted the fight for independence.
