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Writs of Assistance (Implemented)
The Writs of Assistance were warrants that gave the authority to search any suspected place for contraband. This became more controversial in 1761 when James Otis argued to the Superior Court of Massachusetts that the writs were unconstitutional based on the rights granted by English common law. -
Treaty of Paris 1763
The Treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian War. The treaty gave the British control over most of French Canada and all the French land east of the Mississippi as well as Florida. Spain kept Cuba and gained control over French territories west of Mississippi as well as the port of New Orleans. France would get the Caribbean islands that British forces had captured and fishing rights off of Newfoundland. -
Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was a result of growing conflict with Native Americans who were afraid that British expansion would continue westward. A proclamation line was placed along the Appalachians and colonists were not allowed to settle to the west of this line. Restriction of the colonists expansion greatly angered them as they had fought to gain this land, only to be denied from using it. The proclamation also created 4 new British colonies; Quebec, East Florida, West Florida, and Grenada. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act reduced the rate of tax on molasses from six pence (pennies) to three pence per gallon, but it was strictly enforced. The act also listed more items to be taxed such as sugar, wines, coffee, and further regulated the export of lumber and iron. The enforced tax on molasses caused a decline in the rum industry in the colonies. It also caused a decline in trade in general because so many things were being strictly taxed, and it also angered many colonists. -
Currency Act
The Currency Act made it illegal for the colonies to produce their own currency; they had to use the British currency. This was put into place because many colonies had devalued their currency, but still used it to pay taxes which angered many colonists further. -
Stamp Act
As a result of the expenses of fighting the Seven Years’ War as well as having 10,000 troops defending the American frontier, Britain needed to raise money. She did this through the Stamp Act (among others) by taxing every printed piece of paper such as legal documents, licenses, newspapers, etc. This angered and upset many colonists not because it was costly, but because they feared that much worse taxation could easily be imposed upon them as this was able to pass without resistance. -
The Virginia Resolves
The Virginia Resolves were several resolutions adopted by the House of Burgesses in response to the Stamp Act and argued that Virginia, according to British law, could only be taxed by a parliamentary assembly that the Virginians had elected. -
Sons of Liberty (founded)
The Sons of Liberty was a group created in response to the Stamp Act (the Stamp Act was not the only thing that caused their creation, but it was the tipping point that caused many outraged colonists to take action) who planned and took part in such famous demonstrations as the Boston Tea Party and the burning of "The Gaspee". -
Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act Congress was made up of representatives from nine of the British colonies who met in New York City to draft rights and complaints against Parliament concerning the Stamp Act. -
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Townshend Acts
Charles Townshend, the British chancellor of the exchequer, drafted a new fiscal program whose intent was to reduce British taxes by making the collection of taxes on American trade more efficient, he tightened customs administration while also sponsoring duties on colonial imports of paper, glass, lead and tea exported from Britain to the colonies. Though not as strong and violent as the reaction to the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts were still disapproved of by the colonists. -
British seize the Liberty
The Liberty was a sloop owned by John Hancock and sometime around June arrived to Boston with a shipment of Spanish wine, and when customs agents arrived the next morning, the ship was half empty. Later, a customs official said that he had been held on the ship and threatened not to tell anyone. The British then seized the ship and held onto it even when mobs attacked officers and burned a boat belonging to a customs official. -
2,000 British troops stationed in Boston
Several regiments of British troops disembarked in Boston on October 1, 1768. This greatly frustrated the colonists as they were not really necessary for their protection and saw it as Britain just further tightening her grip on them. -
Boston Massacre
The presence of British troops in the city of Boston was becoming more and more resented. The riot began when about 50 citizens attacked a British sentinel. A British officer, Captain Thomas Preston, called in more soldiers which were also attacked, so the soldiers fired into the mob, killing 3 and wounding 8 others, two of whom died of their wounds later. -
Committee of Correspondence
The Committees of Correspondence were emergency Patriot governments established in response to British policy throughout the Thirteen Colonies. The Committees of Correspondence also served as a network of communication throughout the Colonies between Patriot leaders. On the verge of the American Revolution, Committees of Correspondence were formed in cities and regions throughout the American colonies. -
Gaspee burned
The primary cause of the burning of the British vessel, the Gaspee, on the night of June 9-10, 1772, was the British enforcement of tax collection on merchandise imported into the colony, and to enforcement of old trade laws that Rhode Islanders had ignored for decades (salutary neglect). At the same time, Parliament's attempt to implement new taxes further angered the colonists. -
Tea Act
The British Parliament passes the Tea Act, a bill meant to save the faltering East India Company from bankruptcy by greatly lowering the tea tax it paid to the British government. All legal tea entered the colonies through England, which allowed the East India Company to pay lower taxes. Many colonists viewed this as another example of taxation tyranny because it left taxation on tea entering the colonies in place, while removing the taxation on tea entering England. -
Boston Tea Party
Angered by the tea act, roughly 60 Patriots organized by Samuel Adams boarded the British ships (from the East India Company) disguised as Mohawk Indians and dumped the tea chests, valued at £18,000 (nearly $1 million in today’s money), into the water. -
Intolerable Acts
The first act closed the port of Boston until the tea destroyed in the Boston Tea Party was paid for. This threatened the very life of the city. Other acts restricted local authority and banned most town meetings held without the governor's consent. A Quartering Act made local authorities find quarters for British troops, even in private homes if necessary. Instead of isolating Massachusetts as Parliament had hoped, these acts rallied other colonies to its aid. -
Quebec Acts
The Quebec Act, passed at nearly the same time, extended the boundaries of Quebec and guaranteed the right of the French inhabitants to enjoy religious freedom and their own legal system. The colonists opposed this act because, by disregarding old charter claims to western lands, it threatened to hem them into the North and Northwest by a Roman Catholic-dominated province. The Quebec Act was classed by the Americans with the Coercive Acts, and they all became known as the Five Intolerable Acts. -
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1st Continental Congress
The congress met in Philadelphia and all of the colonies except Georgia sent delegates. The delegates were elected by the people, or by some committee representative of the people. The colonies presented there were united in a determination to show a combined authority to Great Britain, but did not share uniform goals. -
Declaration of Resolves
The Declaration of Resolves was a document written by the first Continental Congress in response to the Intolerable Acts. It stated colonial complaints/objections to the Intolerable Acts, as well as stated a colonial bill of rights. -
Gage orders troops to Concord
General Thomas Gage was the commander of the British troops in Boston and when he was informed that colonists were collecting gunpowder in the town of Concord, he sent a large force to go confiscate it as well as capture some of the rebel’s leaders. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The battles of Lexington and Concord occurred when the large British force sent by General Gage to Concord, and the British encountered a small militia force at Lexington. There was a kind of stand-off between the two groups before someone (there is much speculation about who actually fired first) fired a shot that prompted many others to exchange fire without being ordered to do so. The British then moved on to Concord only to find that the militia had moved all of the weapons/ammunition. -
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Siege of Boston
Throughout the the Siege of Boston, American militiamen contained British troops within Boston, and the peninsula of Charlestown. During the Siege, many residents moved out of Boston while loyalists who lived close by moved in. Conditions within the town were harsh as the British maintained control of Boston Harbor, but provisions dwindled while they waited for supply ships to arrive. -
Allen and Arnold capture Fort Ticonderoga
Ethan Allen and a group of soldiers met and were joined by Benedict Arnold, who held a commission from Massachusetts. They silently rowed across Lake Champlain from present-day Vermont and stormed the fort in a late-night sneak attack. There were less than 50 British soldiers occupying the fort. When they got to the commander Arnold demanded that the British surrender the fort. This fort was in a key strategic location and provided the cannons that would end the Siege of Boston. -
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2nd Continental Congress
When the second Continental Congress met (without any delegates from Georgia), they had many issues to discuss as they lacked funding, ammunition, rations for the soldiers, and the soldiers themselves. The solution they came up with was to have anyone they could find sign up for just one year of service. Many men signed up for this, and formed the first continental army was formed. The 2nd Continental Congress also wrote the Olive Branch Petition and the Declaration of Independence. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill actually took place mostly on Breed’s Hill during the siege of Boston, where the American rebels had built fortifications. Roughly 2,100 British troops assaulted the hill and suffered more than 1,000 casualties before the rebels ran out of ammunition and were forced to retreat. -
New England Restraining Act
The New England Restraining Act was passed by Parliament to punish the colonies for their boycott of British goods. The law prohibited the New England colonies from trading with any other country except Great Britain or the British West Indies. It also excluded New Englanders from the profitable codfishing industry. -
Olive Branch Petition
Written by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, and William Livingston, the Olive Branch Petition was an attempt by the Continental Congress to come to a peaceful solution instead of starting a revolutionary war. It stated that the colonists were loyal to the king and that they were not looking for independence. King George III refused to even read the petition and this outraged the colonists, causing them to, ironically, seek independence. -
Common Sense
Common Sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine and earned him the title "The Father of the American Revolution." It was published anonymously in January 1776 under the title "An Englishman". It was very popular and 500,000 copies were spread all over the colonies. He used people’s growing frustration and drove them to look to their own futures. Common Sense has been called "utopian," written with the idea that once liberty came, the rest would follow and everything would be better.
