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The French and Indian War
: The French and Indian War was apart of a larger global conflict called the Seven Years War. The French and British had the most territorial disputes within North America during this war. Both countries wanted access to the profitable fur trade business and the cheap fertile land west of the Appalachian Mountains. Although the British lost majority of the battles they ultimately won the war. The colonists were angry with the Proclamation Line of 1763 and the taxes they were forced to pay. -
The Sugar Act
The British Parliament passed the Sugar Act in 1764 in order to help pay for their debt from the French and Indian War as well as to pay for the troops guarding the Proclamation Line of 1763. It forced the colonists to pay a 3 cent tax on goods like sugar, coffee, indigo and certain kinds of alcohol. The colonists were not happy with this law because they had no say in parliament. The slogan “No Taxation without Representation” became popular in the colonies. -
Sons of Liberty
These men where well-organized political organization shrouded in secrecy that was established to undermine British rule in colonial America. This group spang up in port cities like Boston and NYC. Group member were men from all walks of life, and they were known to be hot headed and violent. -
The Stamp Act
The British Parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765 in order to support the British soldiers protecting the Proclamation Line. The Stamp Act required that a stamp purchased by the British government had to be placed on all important documents like court papers, newspapers and even playing cards. The colonists were mad because they were paying for troops that were keeping them out of the land they fought for and they still had no representation in Parliament. This led to an increase in Protest. -
The Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts taxed imported items such as paper, glass, paint and tea. The English Parliament passed this act to cover costs of the French and Indian War, as well as to show that they still had power over the colonies. The colonists were outraged with this act so they held public demonstrations, boycotted products and smuggled in goods. Parliament eventually decided to repeal this act because of colonial protests. -
The Boston Massacre
On March 5 1770 there was a violent confrontation between the British soldiers and the colonists. The reason for this is because the colonists were harassing, abusing, and yelling at the british soldiers. They were throwing as many things at the british soldiers. One of the clubs that they were throwing hit on e of the soldiers and knocked him over and he accidently fired the first shots.
The other British Soldiers thought they herd Captain Preston yell fire so they fired. -
The Tea Act
This new tax law was not designed to raise taxes in the colonies. This Act was created to help the East India Company. This was because they had 18 Million pounds of unsold tea. England allowed this company to ship this tea to the colonies. The East India Company was a Monopoly. All of this made the colonists frustrated. Things the colonists did were, in NY they refused the shipments, in Charleston they left the tea on the docs to rot, and in Boston the prevented the ships from unloading. -
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Coercive (Intolerable) Acts
These acts were to punish the colonists for rebelling of the Boston tea party. One of the acts were that if a British soldier was arrested for Murder in the colonies he would be sent to trial in England. Knowing that they would not face justice in the colonies , British troops felt freer to abuse the colonists. This is very unfair because one they have no say and 2 they are getting abused by the British troops and not getting in a lot of trouble. -
The Boston Tea Party
On December 16, 1773 there were ships filled with “Mohawk Indians.”The main goal for the colonists was to destroy the tea. The Colonists dumped 342 crates of tea into the water of the ships because they taxed the tea and the colonists could only buy british tea. There were many colonists on those ships. There were many people gathered around to watch them throw the tea into the Boston Harbor. -
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The First Continental Congress
On September 5, 1774 - October 26, 1774
Men from the 13 colonies gathered to have The First Continental Congress. This group of men discussed that the Parliament tax was unfair because they did have any representation, they urged the colonies to boycott all British goods. Finally, they said that if the English Government did not address their complaints within a few months, they would meet again and that the colonies would stop exporting goods to England. -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
On April 19th, 1775 900 Redcoat troops were heading to Lexington and their orders were to to arrest the leaders and seize the weapons. Paul Revere alerts the militias that the British troops are coming. Till this date no one knows who took the first shot. This was a shot herd around the world. There were 8 Patriots killed and 10 wounded. The British win. For the second battle the British went to concord and the Patriots win this battle and they killed ⅓ of the British soldiers.
