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End of the French and Indian War
The French and Indian War, or 7 Years war, ended in 1763. This war was over land and fur trapping rights in North America. Although the British won, it left the country in massive dept. -
Sugar Act
In 1764 the sugar act was passed by British parliament. A modified version of the Sugar and Molasses Act of 1733, this tax along with several more are passes to pay Britain's debts. -
Stamp Act
This act taxed anything that has to be printed on paper in the colonies. This included documents, newspapers, even playing cards. The act was repealed a year later because of the colonies' boycott movements. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act required colonists to house and feed British soldiers if it was asked of them. Although it wasn't a direct tax, colonists still had to feed and cloth the troops. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were a series of laws that taxed British imports of paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea. These taxes, like the Stamp Act, were later repealed. -
Tea Act
The Tea Act taxed all British imported tea. It gave the British East India Company was almost bankrupt, and it gave them a monopoly over tea. -
Boston Tea Party
This event was a result of the taxes created by the Tea Act. Bostonians, dressed as Native Americans, boarded a docked British ship and threw millions of dollars of tea overboard. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were created to punish Massachusetts in response to the Boston Tea Party. The laws included the closing of Boston's port, the termination of self government, and the shipment of all convicted British soldiers to England for trial. -
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a meeting of representatives from several colonies about the Intolerable Acts against Massachusetts. Here they established a Committee of Correspondence in order to enforce the boycott of British imports. -
Lexington and Concord
In response to the Continental Congress, Britain sends more troops to Massachusetts. This leads to the training of local men to create a militia. The British troops located this militia's storage of munition and went to seize it with force. The troops were fought of by the colonist militia, and declared Massachusetts in an open state of rebellion. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration was signed by enough colonies and was passed on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from Great Britain.