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Proclamation of 1763
Established after the French and Indian War. It forbade settlers from settling past a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains. The purpose was so to organize Great Britain's empire and have a set line of what land was Great Britains and what land was the Native Americans. -
Sugar Act of 1764
An act that put a three cent tax on foreign refined sugar and increased taxes on coffee, indigo, and some wines. This act only affected a certain portion of the population. This act was one of the first cases in which colonist wanted a say on how much they were taxed. -
Stamp Act 1765
A tax on all American colonist that said that they must pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. -
Stamp Act Congress
A meeting held in New York City in which representatives from some of the British colonies in North America met to come up with a plan to protest the British taxation. -
Quartering Act 1765
These acts allowed troops to stay in houses or empty buildings if barracks were not available. -
Declaratory Act 1766
Law passed by Parliament that asserted its right to make laws governing its American colonies. -
Townshend Acts 1767
The purpose was to raise money to pay for the salaries of governors and judges so that they could be independent of colonal rule. -
Boston Massacre 1770
The killing of five colonist. This happened due to the tension that had built up from the tax burden of the Townshend Acts. -
Tea Act 1773
An act made by the British Parliament stating that the East Indian Company had to sail directly to the colonies to export tea instead of going first to Britain and then export it again to the same colonies. This act made tea cheaper for Americans but did not benefit the East Indian Company. -
Boston Tea Party
American colonist were angry and frustrated with the new tea tax. They boarded three British ships and dumped 342 crates of tea into Boston Harbor. -
Coercive Acts 1774
Laws in response to The Boston Tea Party. These were the harshest laws yet. One of these laws included closing the port of Boston until the cost of the dumped tea was recovered. -
Quebec Act 1774
Part of the Coercive Act. This act granted civil government and religious freedom to Catholics living in Quebec. -
1st Continential Congress
A group of 56 delegates from all of the colonies except Georgia. This meeting was to act together in response to the Coercive Acts. This meeting was private due to the fact that the colonies did not want Great Britain to know that they were united. -
Battles of Lexington/Concord
First shots were fired between the Americans and the British. The British marched toward Concord where the Americans had stockpiled their weapons. The British had already occupied Boston as they were marching through Lexington on their way to Concord. First Battle of the Revolutionary War. -
2nd Continental Congress
This congress met when the Revolutionary war had just started. Things were not going well and the armed forces were unorganized. The Congress created the Continental Army and named George Washington the commander in chief. They appointed five men to write the Declaration of Independence. -
Olive Branch Petition
This petition addressed the wrongs that had been presented against the colonies. The colonies wanted these wrongs to be corrected and to repair the unfair trading laws that favored Great Britain. -
Delaration of Independence
Five men were appointed to write the Declaration of Independence. These five men were Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft and it was declared almost perfect and with a few corrections the colonies declared their independence.
