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Causes of the Revolution
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End of French and Indian War
After the war ended, the French were almost completely out of the colonies. Another outcome of the war was that Britain needed to make back the money they had spent fighting the Frensh. So the colonists were taxed by the British to regain some of the funds. This led to colonists becoming angry at the British, and it only got worse. -
The Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 followed the colonists moving to the Ohio River Valley that they won from the French. Indians kept attacking the colonists settling there, and the King got tired of sending soldiers to protect them. So Parliament passed a law forcing the settlers to move east of the Appalachian Mountains. This made colonists mad that people had died for this land. So the people ignored the King and stayed to fight for themselves, thinking that England wasn't going to protect them. -
Proclamation of 1763 continued
The Proclamation was passed and this was one of the first events that set the Revolution in motion. -
Sugar Act continued
The British were still trying to regain money they spent in the French Indian War. They also wanted to have a monopoly on everything thing they did. The colonists must have asked themselves, "what's next?" -
Quartering Act continued
Colonists were angry that the British would not send troops when they needed them, but now that they want to enforce unfair laws they have soldiers to spare. -
Quartering Act
To the colonists from the Committee of Correspondence: "The British are making us now house their bloody backs in our own homes. We have to provide fire wood and food for them. We should revolt and refuse to house their vile soldiers in our own homes. Why send soldiers over now? Why not when the Indians were attacking?" -
Sugar Act
To the colonies from the Commitee of Correspondence: "The British are making us pay taxes just to have sugar. It's more money to have it shipped from England when it could be a lot cheaper getting it straight from the Indies! I say we shall boycott sugar until they repeal the Act. This is taxation without representation!" -
Stamp Act
The British made all the merchants pay for stamps that they put on some products to tax them. Colonists had to pay for a licence to sell these products such as dice, cards, marriage licences and newspapers. This made colonists mad and more boycotting happened. So colonists smuggled all these things into the 13 colonies. -
Townshend Acts
This Act made the colonists pay for imports on glass, paper and tea. Also they gave officers writs of assitances which allowed them to search any ship with no questions at all for potential smuggled items. The colonists disagreed with this and refused to import taxed goods. They also kept smuggling them. Colonists thought that this Act was a violation of their British citizens rights. -
Boston Massacre
To the colonists from the Committee of Correspondence: "The British have murdered our innocent brothers in the Boston Massacre. The British just randomly fired at a crowd of colonists, killing five of our brothers. They also killed our relationship with Britain. We should continue our boycot to avenge our brothers." -
Boston Massacre continued
Colonists were peacefully assembelled when they came to protect one of their friends who had been beaten by a British soldier. When other British soldiers arrived, they attacked the colonists. This was another step in ruining the trust of the colonists in Britain. -
Tea Act
The British repealed all of the other Acts and agreed to only tax for tea. The colonists were outraged about this, and saw it as a trick. So they bocotted tea and didn't even want to harbor the tea. The colonists also blockaded the tea from going into Boston. These events led to the famous Boston Tea Party. -
Boston Tea Party
The Sons of Liberty were dressed as Mohawk Indians when they boarded a British ship intending to destroy all of the tea that the British had sent and demanded taxes on. The consequences for destroying all this tea were known as The Intolerable Acts. The famous Boston Tea Party was one of the first real retaliations against the British by the colonists. -
Intolerable Act
This Act was passed as a punishment for the Boston Tea Party. The British blocked the Boston harbor and closed it down. Among other things the Act denied use of the harbor, there were no more town meetings, and the punishment stayed in place until all of the costs of the Boston Tea Party were paid off. -
The Intolerable Acts continued
The colonists thought this was too harsh of a punishment and the other colonies supported Massachusetts. Some of the colonies started working together, gathering weapons in preparation for a war. -
The First Continental Congress
The First Continental [Congress](http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/congress.htm) was when delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies met in Philadelphia to plan a response against the British government. Only Georgia did not send a representative. The Congress demanded a repeal of the Intolerable Acts. Also they planned to form and train militias. -
Continental Congress continued
The Congress also declared that they would tax and govern themselves. Finally, the Congress called for a new boycott on British goods. Many of the founding fathers of this county attended this meeting. -
Revere continued
When they got to Lexington 77 Minutemen were waiting. Then a shot that was heard round the world rang out, and the American Revolution started. -
Paul Revere
Paul Revere was a Silversmith, but he is better known for his midnight ride. He warned colonists that the British were coming, and they should be ready to fight. He and William Dawes rode through the night to warn the Minutemen. The British were marching to Lexington to seize arms that were being stored there. -
Lexington and Concord
The British brought troops to Lexington and 77 Minutemen were waiting for them to battle. 8 minutemen were killed and 10 injured. This was the start of the first battle of the Revolutionary War. The colonists joined together fighting against their parent country.
