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The French and Indian War
The French and Indian War was fought between France and Great Britain. This war forced the French out of North America. The costs of the war is what resulted in the taxes placed upon the colonies. -
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Road to Revolution
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Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was the first law passed by Parliament to raise money to get out of the Seven Years War debt. It placed a tax upon tea and sugar. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act required all colonists to provide food and shelter to the British troops. The colonies who refused to cooperate with this law were tried in admiralty courts without juries. -
Stamp Tax
The Stamp tax was put in place to raise money to support the new military force. This tax covered all paper and all stamps. The people in England had to pay higher taxes. -
Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act Congress started the rights and grievances of colonists. It was ignored by England, and was a major step towards unity. -
Parliament repealed the Stamp Act
Parliament repealed the Stamp Acts because the colonies were boycotting all British goods resulting in England’s economy to decline. However, they replaced the Stamp Act with the Declaratory Act. This act bound all the colonies together. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts imposed a light import duty on glass, white lead, paper, paint, and tea. However, the colonists refused to pay any more taxes without having a representative in on the decision. -
The Boston Massacre
Colonists began to smuggle in cheap tea, and when the British found out they landed two regiments of troops in Boston. One day, a group of people started to throw snowballs at the troops, followed by rocks and bricks. Someone in the distance yelled “Fire!”, so the British troops opened fire on the group killing Crispus Attucks, marking the first death of the Revolution. Two redcoats were found guilty, but let loose after being branded on the hand. -
The Boston Tea Party
About 100 colonist disguised themselves as Indians and boarded the ships filled with tea. They smashed 342 chests of tea and dumped them into the harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts to to get the colonists back under their control. One of the acts was the Boston Port Act. This act closed the port until all the damages were paid for. They also created a New Quartering Act. This act gave local authorities the power to put troops wherever they wanted whenever they wanted. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was called about because the Committees of Correspondence wanted to talk about the Intolerable Acts and to redress grievances. 12 of the 13 colonies sent 55 men. They drew up the Declaration of Rights and called for the colonies to boycott all British goods. -
Tea Brewing in Boston
The British East India Tea Company was facing bankruptcy with 17 million pounds of unsold tea. The British decided that no other tea company would be able to trade with the colonies and that they could sell the tea for whatever amount they chose. However, the colonists thought they were being tricked into paying taxes. -
Lexington and Concord
Parliament rejected Congress’s petitions. The British commander sent troops to Lexington and Concord to seize stores of gunpowder, as well as to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Paul Revere rode from Charlestown to Lexington warning that the British were coming. The colonies met the British half way and a battle broke out. The British were outnumbered and low on ammunition and were forced to retreat back to Boston. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The colonists wanted to delay the British's’ attack, however they only made things worse. The British didn’t want the colonies to seize Boston, so they started a fight on Bunker Hill. The British ended up defeating the colonists. -
Declaration of Independence
Congress recommended that the colonies form their own governments, so they decided to write the Declaration of Independence to show they were now independent.
