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Proclamation Line
This gave the land west of the Appalachian Mountains to the Indians for their hunting land. Colonists that already lived their were forced to return to the Eastern side of the Appalachians. -
Stamp Act
Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that imposed a direct tax on the colonies of British America. This act required many printed materials (legal documents, newspapers, magazines, and playing cards) to be produced on stamped paper. -
Quartering Act
Act outlining the locations and conditions in which British soldiers were required to find room and board in the American colonies. The Act required colonies to house British soldiers in barracks. -
Declaratory Act
This law declared England's authority to make laws for the colonies. This act helped with the repeal of the stamp act of 1765. This act showed the colonists that there will be more acts and laws to come. -
Townshends Act
The townshend acts created a tax on items like tea, paper, and glass. The items was a tax on imported goods to America. The colonists refused to buy tea from the British unless it was smuggled. -
Boston Massacre
The killing of five colonists by the British. This was caused by the continued and growing tensions in the American colonies since the Royal troops had first appeared to enforce the heavy tax burden brought on by the Townshend Acts. -
Committee of Correspondence
This committee was prompted by Samuel Adams. He felt it was necessary to help provide colonial leadership and aid in intercolonial cooperation. -
Tea Act
Granted the British East India Company tea a monopoly on tea sales in the American colonies. This was known as the final spark to the revolutionary movement in Boston. -
Boston Tea Party
A political protest by the Sons of Liberty. This protest was against taxation. -
Intolerable or Coercive Acts
The British Parliament enacted the Coercive Acts to the outrage of American Patriots. These were a series of four acts. These acts were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in throwing a large tea shipment into the Boston Harbor. -
"Shot Heard Around the World"
More than 700 British soldiers were given orders to destroy colonial military supplies in Concord, Massachusetts. The Sons of Liberty were able to let the Patriots know about the attack. The colonial militia of about 500 men were outnumbered and forced to retreat. -
Common Sense
A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine to challenge the authority of the British government and the royal monarchy. This was the first document to ask for independence from Great Britain. -
Declaration of Independence
Statement adopted by the Second Continental Congress that announced the thirteen American colonies. It was needed to declare why the colonies had to become independent of Britain.
