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Stamp Act
This was the first direct tax on the American colonies by Parliament. It taxed newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, broadsides, legal documents, dice, and playing cards. Stamps were attached to documents or passages showing that the tax had been paid. -
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Organized Protests/ "Declaration of Rights and Grievances"
In response to the Stamp Act, a group of secret organizations called the Sons of Liberty was created to intimidate the stamp agents who collected taxes. Before the act took effect, all the agents had resigned.The colonies gathered together and stated that as they were equal to British citizens, they could not be taxed without representation in Parliament. -
Repeal of The Stamp Act/ Declaratory Act
In response to the protests, Parliament members lauded the Colonists for protesting laws from a government body in which they were not represented. Colonists ended their ban on imported British goods. On the same day that the Stamp Act was repealed, Parliament passed an act that declared they could make laws binding the Colonies in any and all cases. -
The Townshend Acts
Becuse controling and governing the American colonies was expensive, Parliament put taxes on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. Colonists again decided to ban British imports. -
Townshend Acts Removed
After boycotts reduced profits, all taxes introduced by the Townshend Acts were removed, except for the tax on tea. -
Boston Massacre
A group of soldiers fired against a group of protestors, killing three and injuring two. Many people were outraged. -
Tea Act
Congress removed tax on imported British tea, which gave British merchants an unfair advantage in selling tea. -
Tea Party
Hundreds of men, disguised as Mohawk Indians, went to Boston Harbor and dumped 342 chests of tea into the water. As a result of this, the British passed the Coercive Acts, a series of laws passed to punish Massachusetts.
