-
French And Indian War
The French allied themselves with the Native Americans in 1754 and fought against Britain and its colonists. It started as a dispute over the Ohio River Territory. Britain sent supplies to the colonists but soon Britain was in its own fight with France. The war caused Britain great expense, so eventually Parliment decided to tax the colonists. The colonists were upset over this and began to rebel against Britain. -
Albany Plan of Union
The purpose was to create a unified government for the thirteen colonies. This way the colonists had a little more freedom. They thought this would help them gain freedom and elbow room. -
Writs of Assistance
Put into use in 1761 these slips of paper were given out by the court and allowed the Britich officers to enforce laws. Many colonists and merchants petitioned against this. -
Sugar Act
The purpose of the Sugar Act was to encourage and better sugar trading with England, instead of with foreign countries, create more revenue for England. Basically they can only trade with Britain, this means the colonists will lose money and purchasing goods is more expensive.
This upset the colonists, England is forcing them to lose money, so in return they start to boycott British goods. -
Tea Act
The purpose was to save the East India company by increasing the taxes on the tea and to get more people to invest in the company. This act affected the colonists because it only gave them one source to get tea from and the taxes on this tea were extremely high.The colonists were angry and started boycotting. It was this act that started the Boston Tea Party. -
Stamp Act
The purpose was to regulate commerce. Now the colonists had to pay tax on papers, news papers, etc. The colonists now thought possessed the same rights as the English but here they were being taxed. -
Period: to
Policy of Non Importation
The purpose was to force the British to recognize that the colonists had rights. This helped the colonist's attempt to make peace with Britain. Britain still refused to meet the colonists demands so the colonists went to war. -
Townshend Acts
The purpse was to allow British soliders to occupy a home and force the occupants to feed them. The colonists where very angry when this act was put into exsistence. -
Boston Massacre
Petitioners taunted the soliders gaurding a british building and then a shot was fired. Several americans were killed and several british men were placed in prison. -
Boston Tea Party
The british had highly taxed the colonists. In return a group of colonists dressed as Native Americans attacked a ship full of tea in Boston Harbor. These people tossed thousands of dollars worth of tea into the Harbor. -
Period: to
Continental Congress
This congress balanced the interests of different colonies. They wrote that "Americans cannot submit. . .to these grievous acts and measures..." and that they wanted both countries to return to "happiness and prosperity. This was a united American beleif, but most of the colonists still wanted to be Englishmen. -
Coercirve Acts/Intolerable Acts
Parliament thought they needed to punish the colonists and demonstrate their power so they put the Coercive Acts into play. This act affected the colonists because now they could not ship goods, distribute merchandise and so on. This mad the colonists furious, so thecolonists started to rally against Britain and began to boycott goods. -
Quebec Act
The purpose was to stop colonies from expanding. Also, the people in Quebec can now worship what they want, the colonists cannot expand westward. The colonists were upset because now they can’t expand their colonies and the French-Canadians can now worship freely. -
Lexington and Concord
The colonists in these towns decided to take up arms against the British. To the British the land would either be destroyed or controlled. These minutemen helped win the Revolutionary War. -
Currency Act
The pupose was to create a source of money in America, all debts are discharged. This means that the colonists have their own separate set of money but it is controlled by the British. The colonists protested against this act. -
The Battle of Bunker Hill
This battle actually was on Breed's Hill, not Bunker Hill like most people assume. The british soliders won but their victory was short lived because the Americain Army would soon win the War. -
Olive Branch Petition
This was the last written attempt to make peace between the Colonies and Britain. The king refused to read the petition and this angered the colonists even more. In the end, the colonists decided to break away from Britain completely and wanted to create a new country. -
Second Continental Congress
Representatives from acroos the country meeted together to disscuss the creation of the Continental Army. Originally they did not intend to declare independence from Britain. -
Declaration of Independence
This was a document signed by many great colonial leaders declaring their independence from Britain. The colonists now where free from British rule.