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French and Indian War
The Treaty of Paris is ratified, ending the French Indian War. signed on November 3, 1762. the treaty's ratification has been delayed by critics, including William Pitt, who believe its terms are too lenient. In the treaty, France surrenders all of its former North American territories east of the Mississippi River to Britain, except New Orleans. -
proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation 0f 1763, as it is known, acknowledged that Indians owned the lands on which they were then residing and white settlers in the area were to be removed. However, provision was made to allow specially licensed individuals and entities to operate fur trading ventures in the proscribed area. There were two motivations for this policy: -
The Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was passed in 1764. 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. -
The Stamp Act
On February 6th, 1765 George Grenville rose in Parliament to offer the fifty-five resolutions of his Stamp Bill. A motion was offered to first read petitions from the Virginia colony and others was denied. The bill was passed on February 17, approved by the Lords on March 8th, and two weeks later ordered in effect by the King. -
The Quartering Act
The Quartering Act of 1765 ordered that colonists were to hause and feed British soldiers if it was necessary, which wasn't exactly convenient for the bossed-around colonists. -
The Townshed Act
Early in 1766, Dr. Benjamin Franklin, of Philadelphia is one of many called to testify in London as the Members of Parliament struggle to understand why Americans had so forcibly resisted the Stamp Act. These British legislators hope to avoid a repeat of the furious reaction across the Atlantic as they ponder how to generate revenue from the colonies and remind those colonies of Parliament's right to tax—and control—them. -
The Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was the killing of five colonists by British regulars on March 5, 1770. It was the culmination of tensions in the American colonies that had been growing since Royal troops first appeared in Massachusetts in October 1768 to enforce the heavy tax burden imposed by the Townshend Acts. -
Boston Tea Party
The North ministry's solution was the Tea Act, which received the assent of King George on May 10, 1773. This act restored the East India Company's full refund on the duty for importing tea into Britain, and also permitted the company, for the first time, to export tea to the colonies on its own account. This would allow the company to reduce costs by eliminating the middlemen who bought the tea at wholesale auctions in London. Instead of selling to middlemen, the company now appointed c -
The Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts passed by the British consists of four different acts signed in response to the hurtful Boston Tea Party. They all placed even more restrictions on the colonists, and the Boston Harbor was closed. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The first shots starting the revolution were fired at Lexington, Massachusetts. On April 18, 1775, British General Thomas Gage sent 700 soldiers to destroy guns and ammunition the colonists had stored in the town of Concord, just outside of Boston. They also planned to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, two of the key leaders of the patriot movement
