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Development of the Colonial Governments
An example of government in the colonies was the Virginia House of Burgesses. The representatives were elected to the General Assembly. The House of Burgesses was a part of the government that worked alongside the Colonial Governor, who was appointed by the crown. The General Assembly could be abolished at any point by the crown or the governor. The House of Burgesses functioned from 1642 to 1776. -
End of Salutary Neglect
This was a result of the large war debt the British accrued from the Seven Years/French and Indian War. Salutary Neglect was a policy where trade regulations for the colonies were laxly enforced and imperial supervision of internal colonial affairs was loose as long as the colonies were loyal to the crown. -
The Quartering Act
The British sent 10,000 troops to the colonies to help protect the colonists from the French. The colonists felt they did not need protection, and that the troops had been sent to enforce British laws. The soldiers needed a place to live, so the act forced colonists to provide a place to for soldiers to live. The colonists were also forced to provide them with food and whatever supplies they needed. The soldiers did not have to pay for any food or supplies provided. -
The Sugar Act
The British decided to cut the tax on sugar in half in an effort to encourage the colonists to actually pay it. Before this, many merchants smuggled sugar into the colonies to avoid the tax. The main repercussion of the act was that violators were no longer tried in the colonial court, but in a British court without a jury. -
The Stamp Act
This act required colonists to pay a tax on every single piece of paper they purchased. This included everyday things like books and newspapers. This tax affected almost everybody in the colonies, and created animosity toward Parliament and the Crown. Protests broke out throughout the colonies, and men who were supposed to collect the tax feared for their lives. -
The Townshend Acts
Charles Townshend, a member of British Parliament, decided to create a tax imported goods into the colonies. He felt the colonists would not complain about a tax that was on items that were not made in the colonies. Instead, the colonists decided to boycott all British products. They felt that this would be better than paying the new taxes. -
The Boston Massacre
British troops were sent to the colonies to stop the protests to the Townshend Acts. In Boston, troops shot into a crowd of protestors, who called themselves Patriots, and killed 5 people in the crowd. Instead of keeping order, this provoked outrage amongst the colonists. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/account-boston-massacre -
The Tea Act
The main British tea company, the East Indian Tea Company, was having financial problems. Since the colonists were smuggling in Dutch tea to avoid paying taxes on British tea, the company was in danger of bankruptcy. This gave the East Indian Tea company a monopoly on selling tea to the colonies. -
The Boston Tea Party
In protest to the Tea Act, rebels led by Samuel Adams snuck on to a ship in the Boston harbor and dumped a large amount of British tea into the harbor. This infuriated the British. -
The Intolerable Acts
In response to the Boston Tea Party, the British decided to punish the colonists with a series of acts. One of the punishments was to close down the port of Boston, and would not allow any ships to come or go until the colonists paid for the Tea. This had a negative effect on the city's economy. This forced the colonists to choose sides between Loyalists and Patriots.
