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The Proclamation of 1763
After the French and Indian War, this proclamation was made to calm the fears of the Native Americans as much as it was to regulate the colonies.This angered the colonists somewhat as what they thought was their prize for winning the war was taken from them. -
The Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was passed as a modified version of the Sugar and Molasses Act. The Molasses Act simply had merchants pay a tax of six pence on the importation of foreign molasses. Since corruption cuased the tax to be avoided, the Sugar Act was passed. It reduced the tax from six to three pence, while the tax was more strongly enforced. It also listed more foreign goods to be taxed including sugar, certain wines, coffee, pimeinto, cambric and printed calico, and also, regulated the export of lumb -
The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was passed to pay off Britain's massive national debt afer the Seven Years War. It was also Parliment's first serious attempt to assert governmental authority in the colonies. It taxed every piece of paper to be used in the colonies, each paper taxed for different amounts depending on it's use. -
The Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was not a massacre, but simply a street fight between a patriot mob and a squad of British soldiers. The riot began when about fifty citizens attacked a British soldier and an officer standing by called for reiforcements. The troops then fired into the crowd, killing three instnatly and injuring eight others, two of which died afterwards. This event led directly to the Royal Governor evacuating British troops from Boston. -
The Tea Act
The Tea Act is considered to have launched the final spark in order to start the American Revolution. This act was not intended to raise any new taxes, but to prop up the East India Company which had eighteen million pounds of unsold tea.The tea was sold at bargain price, but the radical leaders in America believed that this act was meant to promote the taxes already in place and also undercut the sales of local merchants.Ships were held in the harbour, as to ensure the tea was bought. -
The Boston Tea Party
The Tea Party was caused by two major reasons, the Tea Act and the dispute on Parliament's extent of authority, if any, in America without any elected representation. The Boston citizens were unable to force the consignees to resign due to their stubborn governor. This issue led to more violent action,(i.e. the Boston Tea Party). The evening of the event, 30-130 men, some dressed as Mohawk warriors, dumped all 342 chests of tea into the harbour. This appalled every governmental party in Britain. -
The 1st Continental Congress
From Sept. 5, 1774 to Oct. 26, 1774 fifty-six delegates from every colony (except Georgia) attended the first Continental Congress. Most were split between making peace with Britain and becoming independent. Virginia, which had the most evenly split delegates, also had the most eminent group of colonists to present. The goals were unclear at first and there was much debate, mostly because there was much distrust to get past. They had enacted a colonial boycott and if needed, an end to exporting -
The battles of Lexington and Concord
On the morning of April 19, 1775 hundreds of British troops were on the move to Concord to move to seize an arms cache, passing through Lexington on the way. The fighting began in Lexington and led to the full blown American Revolution. After killing eight minutemen and wounding nine others, British troops left Lexington for Concord. Despite firing at the Redcoats, pushing them back to a forced retreat, they only killed or wounded roughly two hundred and fifty of them. still, their power showed -
The Declaration of Independece
Written on July 2 and ratified on July 4, the Declaration of Independence was the most important document in American history. At the time, America had already been at war with Britain for a year. Jefferson had written the first draft, expressing his and the Continental philosopher's political philosophy in "self-evident truths".
