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Sugar Act
– Indirect tax ( out of sight=out of mind ) – Duties on molasses and sugar -
Stamp Act
– Tax on all paper products – Official stamp/seal on all paper items ( proof tax was paid ) – If didn’t purchase=fined or jailed – Direct tax
– (in your face tax) -
Declaratory Act
– Parliament declares it has power to make laws for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever”
– Parliament passes this to save face -
Townshend Act
– Taxes on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea
– Searched for smuggled goods – Sons of Liberty start to do violent acts
-British Soldiers arrive to protect tax collects -
Boston Massacre
– Crowd gathers and hassles soldiers, throwing snowballs and shouting insults.
– More troops arrive, colonists get more and more angry
– “Fire if you dare!” -
Tea Act
– Passed in 1773 and allowed British East India Company (BEIC) to sell tea directly to colonists
– Lower Prices than colonists merchant prices
– Tax Tea cheaper than smuggled tea
– Less smuggling= more tax money -
Boston Tea Party
– Members of Son of Liberty Dump over 340 chests of tea into Boston Harbor
– “Boston harbor is a teapot tonight!”
– Caused problems for loyalists/Tories
–Loyalist/Tory= a person in the Colony who remains “loyal” to the King and Great Britain -
Intolerable Acts
– Passed to punish Boston for Tea Party
– Boston Harbor Closed until tea paid for
– Massachusetts Charter canceled
– Royal officials had trial in Britain
– Quartering Act required colonists to house soldiers
– “If a soldier comes knocking at the door… you’re sleeping on the floor.”
– Large amount of land given Quebec
– General Thomas Gage became new governor of MA -
Quartering Act
– Quartering Act required colonists to house soldiers
– “If a soldier comes knocking at the door… you’re sleeping on the floor.” -
Continental Congress meets
– All colonies but Georgia have representatives
– Voted to send a “statement of grievances”
– Voted to Boycott all British Trade
– Patrick Henry- VA rep. Urged colonists to unite against Britain -
1,000 Red Coats
General Gage brings thousands of British soldiers to Boston with more on the way -
Midnight ride of Paul Revere
Paul Revere rides to warn the sons of Liberty in Lexington and Concord that the “British are coming… The British are coming..” -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
Battle of Lexington–
– 1st battle of America Revolutionary War
– “shot heard round the world”- Ralph Waldo Emerson
– BRITISH Victory
Battle of Concord
– Americans Stop British and force them to retreat back to Boston -
Fort Ticonderoga
– Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen capture the fort
– Get all supplies in the fort including cannons
– AMERICAN Victory -
Second Continental Congress meet
– Print $$$$
–set up post office
– Created Continental Army led by George Washington
– sent Olive Branch asking King to protect their rights
– King hires 30,000 Hessians Soldiers in response -
Bunker Hill
– Fought in Breed’s Hill
– “Don’t Fire until you see the whites of their eyes”- William Prescott
– BRITISH Victory (Americans ran out of ammunition) British learn defeating Americans would NOT be easy -
Washington arrives on outskirts of Boston with Continental troops
– Realizes men are disorganized and need discipline
– Need weapons -
Common Sense
– pamphlet inspires more colonists to become patriots
– “Everything that is right or reasonable pleads for separation. The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature cries, ‘TIS TIME TO PART” - Thomas Paine, Common Sense -
British Surrender Boston
– Washington believes his army is ready and weappons arrive
– Washington puts cannons on Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston
– British retreat- AMERICAN victory -
Second Continental Congress
– Debate on declaring independence
– Thomas Jefferson is the primary author of the document -
Votes for Independence
-
Declaration of Independence is signed
