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1763 (The Royal Proclamation)
The Royal Proclamation stated that all western territory between the Allegheny Mountains, Florida, the Mississippi River, and Quebec, were reserved for Native American use. The King attempted to take any claimed western territory of the 13 colonies, which stopped westward expansion.
Very little response from the colonists, but did raise tensions since they viewed it as a violation of their rights to settle on western land. -
1764 (The Sugar Act)
Meant to replace the Molasses Act of 1733.
The Act made the importation of foreign rum illegal. It also included taxes on items such as: wines, silks, coffees, and other luxurious items.
Merchants, legislatures, and town lawyers were some of the most vocal when protesting this law. This was when the famous slogan "No taxation without Presentation" was made. -
1764 (The Currency Act)
The Currency Act stated that new and existing money can't be printed and distributed. Since the colonies were already short of "hard currency" this act was met with the same reaction as the Sugar Act, which was release earlier that year. -
The Stamp Act (1765)
The Stamp Act placed a tax on a variety of different paper items. These taxes were placed things such as newspapers, licenses, playing cards, and any legal document. This seriously made hostility against the British government skyrocket since it had affected many businessmen, merchants, lawyers, and journalists which are said to be powerful people during these times. -
The Quartering Act (1765)
This Quartering Act made it so that British troops could occupy private homes and the colonists had to comply.
Colonists grew tired of this act since troops quickly ate most of their food and other resources. -
Quartering Act (1765)
The Quartering Act of 1765 specifically stated that colonists had to pay for provisions and barracks for British troops. This raised tensions even more between the colonists and Great Britain. -
Declaratory Act (1766)
After much back and forth between the colonists and the British government, Parliament finally decided to repeal the Stamp Act after feeling the effects of the American boycott of British goods. After this action, Parliament decided to pass the Declaratory Act. This Act was passed to bind laws to the colonies no matter the situation. The colonists still saw this as a win since they were able to repeal the Stamp Act. -
Townshend Acts (1767)
The Townshend Acts were implemented to impose a tax on British goods such as paper, glass, lead, and tea. Basically another Stamp Act. The money from this act was used to keep a British army in colonies and pay colonial officials.
The hostilities from the colonists weren't as violent as it was from the Stamp Act, but it was pretty close. They resorted to using in-house goods rather than British goods and when pressed for money by officials, it was said that the population roughly handled them. -
Boston Massacre (1770)
The mere presence of British troops in Boston was itself, a call for challenge. It started with harmless snowballs being thrown to the soldiers, but turned into a more violet manner when objects where being put into the snowballs and became a mob attack. This caused the soldiers to fire, resulting in 3 casualties. This incident was used to show the tyrannical power of Britain and Parliament quickly repealed the Townshend Acts to appeal to the colonists, which only worked slightly. -
The Boston Tea Party (1773)
Although the Townshend Acts were repealed, the tax on tea was not. The East India Company made it so they were the sole seller of tea to the colonies, creating a monopoly.
One night a group of men dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded three English ships and dumped all of it's tea cargo into the Boston Harbor. The East India company confronted Parliament about this event and stated that if these actions went unpunished, Parliament is basically admitting that it allows its colonies to run free. -
The Intolerable Acts (1774)
A series of laws in response to the Boston Tea Party.
The first was the Boston Port Bill, making it so that the port of Boston was going to stay closed until the tea that was destroyed during the Boston Tea Party was paid.
Other restrictions made it so that no town meetings could be made without the governor's consent.
Of course this led to economic disaster since the sea was cut off from Boston, so trade was no longer available to them. -
The Quebec Act (1774)
This act made it so the province of Quebec extended to the south of Ohio River. Disregarded old charter claims if that land. Provided trials with no jury or representative assembly. This made colonists feel like their rights of government and freedoms were being directly violated.