Road to Revolution Timeline

By abbifisher

  • The French and Indian War Aftermath

    Lead to increased taxes
    Ended salutary neglect
    The British leave troops in America to enforce laws
    Britain's goals are to collect taxes, stop smuggling, and boost the British economy

  • Sugar Act

    Tax put on sugar with the goal of decreasing smuggling.
    Issued the Writs of Assistance which allows the British to search property without a warrant.
    Violates privacy and creates tension

  • Stamp Act

    Direct tax paid on all printed goods
    Stamp Act Congress- boycotts printed goods
    Colonial resistance- rights were violated
    Colonists refused to pay taxes, kept smuggling, and attacked tax collectors and soldiers
    Later repealed and replaced with the Townshend Acts

  • Quartering Act

    Requires that Americans must house and feed British soldiers
    Invasion of privacy
    Takes away their ability to self govern
    Adds more tension

  • Boston Massacre

    Big turning point in the revolution
    British soldiers fired upon Americans
    Both claimed to be innocent/justified

  • Tea Act

    Added a tax on tea
    Awarded a monopoly
    Price of tea goes up
    Sons of liberty assemble to react
    Leads to the Boston Tea Party

  • Boston Tea Party

    Colonists dumped 342 barrels of tea into Boston Harbor
    About $2 million worth of damages to cargo
    Britain sees it as a threat to British rule
    King George III increases the number of troops to one per citizen

  • Intolerable Acts

    GB introduces a series of acts to make up for the money lost in the Boston Tea Party.
    Seen as a punishment to all, despite the fact that only a few people actually dumped the tea.
    Leads to an inter colonial meeting- 5 (ish) reps from every colony

  • 1st Continental Congress

    Formed in response to the Intolerable Acts
    Colonists discuss their rights and how they can defend them.
    Decide to boycott British goods and start the Non-importation agreements, an agreement not to buy British goods
    Committees of Correspondence enforces boycott by inspecting custom houses and blacklisting sellers that refuse to boycott.

  • Lexington and Concord

    Colonists in MA formed a secretive militia. They had a spy network using beacons to signal British movements, "Shot Heard 'Round the World." Secret gets out and the British search warehouses for weapons, finds nothing.
    Leads to the second continental congress where the radicals write the Olive Branch Petition in hopes to cease fire, end the intolerable acts, and define colonial rights. The king sees the Olive Branch as a joke and declares the colonists in a 'State of Rebellion.'