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Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was an attempt to prevent the colonists from going west and passed the Appalachian Mountains. The British did this to prevent future issues between Native Americans and the colonists. -
Sugar Act
The British placed a tax on sugar, wine, and other important things. The British did this because they wanted more money. The British wanted this money to help provide more security for the colonies. -
Stamp Act
The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act of 1765 required the colonies to house British soldiers in barracks provided by the colonies. If the barracks were too small to house all the soldiers, then localities were to accommodate the soldiers in local inns, livery stables, ale houses etc. -
Townshend Acts
A plan created by Charles Townshend to increase revenue in the colonies. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers. Several colonists were killed. -
Boston Tea Party
When a group of colonists dumped hundreds of barrels of British tea into Boston Harbor as an act of defiance. -
Intolerable Acts
A series of laws to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party. it was also a warning to the other colonies. -
1st Continental Congress meets
The objectives of the body were not entirely clear but, with such leadership as was found there, a core set of tasks was carried out. It was agreeable to all that the King and Parliament must be made to understand the grievances of the colonies and that the body must do everything possible to communicate the same to the population of America, and to the rest of the world. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord in order to seize an arms cache. A confrontation on the Lexington town green started off the fighting, and soon the British were hastily retreating under intense fire. -
2nd Continental Congress meets
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting on May 10, 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
On June 17, 1775 the Battle of Bunker Hill took place. It was one of the most important colonial victories in the U.S. War for Independence. FThis battle made both sides realize that this was not going to be a matter decided on by one quick and decisive battle. -
Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was the last attempt by the Americans to avoid the Revolutionary War with Great Britain. King George III refused to receive the petition. -
Publication of Common Sense
Paine's political pamphlet brought the rising revolutionary sentiment into sharp focus by placing blame for the suffering of the colonies directly on the reigning British monarch, George III. -
British Retreat from Boston
To prevent what could have been a repeat of the Battle of Bunker Hill, Howe decided to retreat, withdrawing from Boston to Nova Scotia on March 17. -
Signing of the Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire.