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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) -
Declaratory Act
Parliament declares it has power to make laws for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever”
Parliament passes this to save face -
Townshend Acts
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 collectors -
Colonists vs British Troops
soldier strikes colonist
Crowd gathers and hassles soldier, 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 colonist merchant prices
Tax Tea cheaper than smuggled tea
Less smuggling = more tax money -
Boston Tea Party
Members of Sons of Liberty Dump over 340 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor
Caused Problems for loyalists / Tories
- Loyalist/Tory = a person in the Colony who remains "loyal" to the King & Great Britain -
Intolerable Acts
Passed to punish Boston for Tea Party
Boston Harbor Closed until tea paid for
Massachusetts Charter cancelled
Royal officials had trial in Britain -
Quartering Act
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 to Quebec
General Thomas Gage became new governor of MA -
First 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 British. -
1,000's of Redcoats in Boston
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.." -
Battles of Lexington & Concord
Battle of Lexington
1st battle of American 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
AMERICAN Victory -
Capture of Fort Ticonderoga
Benedict Arnold & Ethan Allen capture the fort
Get all supplies in the fort including cannons
AMERICAN Victory -
Second Continental Congress Meets
Print $$$
Set up post office
Created Continental Army led by George Washington
Sent Olive Brand asking King to protect their rights
King hires 30,000 Hessians Soldiers in response -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Fought on 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 the outskirts of Boston with Continental troops
Realizes men are disorganized & need discipline
Needs Weapons -
"Common Sense" published by Thomas Paine
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 & weapons arrive
Washington puts cannons on Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston
BRITISH retreat - AMERICAN Victory. -
Second Continental Congress meets again
Debate declaring independence
Thomas Jefferson is the primary author of the document -
Second Continental Congress votes for Independence
All 13 colonies vote YES on declaring independence -
The Declaration of Independence is signed
July 4th 1776