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Stamp Act
England's debt had risen extremely during the French and Indian war so they needed a way to get that money back quickly so they decided to tax the colonists of America. This was an Act passed by the English Parliament to tax colonists for every legal document that they produced such as letters, bills, magazines, newspapers and even playing cards. -
Stamp Act: Part 2
The colonists didn't like this act so they began to protest against the British government and some groups like the Sons of Liberty used violence to scare off tax collectors. The next year this Act was repealed. -
Stamp Act Congress
Colonists were trying to rebel and give a message against the Stamp and Sugar Act by shouting "no taxation without representation" but on single person could do that. James Otis came up with the idea of an intercontinental congress known as the Stamp Act Congress. By the end of the congress the members came to an agreement to repeal the Stamp Act. -
The Townshend Acts
This was a series of Acts passed by Parliament to raise money through taxes to pay governors and judges by taxing lead, paper, glass and tea. These acts were also passed to punish the state of New York for not housing British troops. The townshend Acts were later repealed in mid 1770 because a new leader saw that Britain wasn't gaining any money from this act so he convinced Parliamnet to repeal all of the acts except for one, the tax on tea. -
Boston Massacre
There was extreme tension between the Bostonians and the British soldiers and most colonists didn't want them in America. An angry group of about 60 people began to taunt some Redcoats and when reinforcements arrived they became even more unhappy so they started throwing rocks and snowballs at the guards. The guards opened fired at the crown against their commander's orders while killing five people. Most of the guards weren't found guilty and that outraged the colonists the most -
Tea Act
This was an Act passed by Parliament to allow The British East India Company, which was in a state of almost going broke, to sell tea cheaper than others in the colonies. Another objective for the Tea Act was to make colonists buy tea from the East India Company on which the townshend Acts were paid. The colonists saw this Act as encouragement to pay taxes. They began to threaten tea ships with violence and some colonists even burned them down. The Tea Act was then repealed in 1778. -
Boston Tea Party
One night in december the Governor of Boston allowed three ships carrying tea into the port but before they could pay any taxes some colonists disguiseed as native Americans came onto the ship and tossed 342 of tea into the harbour. The cost in damage that night was over three quarters of a million modern U.S dollars. -
Battle of Concord/Lexington: Part 2
After the battle the British soldiers marched on to Concord but a Patriot named Paul Revere alerted the militia at Cancord so that they could hide all of the arms before the soldiers got there.The British soldiers couldn’t find the hidden weapons so they set fire to some buildings. The minutemen then charged at them and the British soldiers made an easy target because they were wearing bright red jackets which gave them their nickname as the Redcoats. -
Battle of Concord/Lexington
70 armed minutemen waited for British soldiers at Lexington, near Concord. A Patriot commander, John Parker, told them “Don’t fire unless fired upon” and then a shot rang out which know one knows who fired and is known as the “shot heard round the world”. After this shot the battle started but only lasted a few minutes and 8 of the minute men were dead and 10 were wounded but only one British soldier was wounded. -
Intolerable Acts
The intolerable Acts was a set of acts including The Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government Act, Admision of Justice Act and The Quebec Act. These acts were made directly after the Boston Tea Party which is the reason for the Boston Port Act. Many colonies thought that the British had taken it too far and this led to the 1st Continental Congress. -
1st Continental Congress
This congress took place at Carpenters Hall, Philadephia and was a gathering of colonial laeders who were troubled about the relationship between Great Britain and the American colonies. The members of this congress made a comprimise that they should encourage colonists to to continue boycotting British goods and thy told colonial militias to prepare for war. The members also created the Declaration of Rights which was a list of 10 resolutions which was to be presented to the king. -
1st Continental Congress: Part 2
Lastly, the congress members decided to meet again in 1775 if the king refused their resolutions. -
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2nd Continental Congress: Part 2
Most of the members were not seeking independence in May but in July when the Congress approved the Olive Branch Petition and instead the King said that they were in a state of rebellion that was not good for the Congress.The members of the congress were now wanted for treason but still continued to govern. In July 1776 it was bad for the Congress because they still hadn’t voted on the Declaration of Independence when it was publicly announced. -
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2nd Continental Congress
This Congress took place at Carpenters' Hall, Philadephlia and declared that a continental army would be created and commissioned George Washington to be supreme commander, The Congress authorized the printing of money to pay for the supplies and the had appointed a committee to make relations with foreign governments. The congress was almost like it's own government and they were preparing for war -
Declaration of Indepenence
Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution onto the 2nd Continental Congress to that declared the thirteen colonies were free and independent. A vote was set for early July but in the meantime they thought that they needed some sort of explanation why so the Congress appointed five members to write the declaration. The appointed five members were Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson (who drafted the first declaration), John Adams, Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman. -
Declaration of Independence: Part 2
This document said the reasons why the 13 colonies were declaring independence and also stated the principles of how the nation would be governed. -
Battle of Bunker Hil
Leaders in Boston were desperate for supplies so they sent 400 men to New York to capture the British fort at Ticonderoga and their supplies. At the same time the Patriots kept the British pinned down inside Boston and were trying to create a battle plan but on the morning of the 17th of June they had dug through Breed’s Hill. -
Battle of Bunker Hill: Part 1
The British with 2400 men advanced on to Breed’s Hill where 1600 militia waited and their commander told them not to fire until they were at point blank range because the Patriots were low on ammunition. In the end the British retreated twice but on the third time the Patriots had to retreat due to low ammunition. This was almost a win for the Patriots because it showed that they could take on the British and that day the British lost double the amount of men than the Patriots. -
Olive Branch Petition
This petition was drafted by John Dickinson which was adopted by the second continental congress, It was an attempt to state the rights of colonists while keeping their loyalty to the king. King George refused to read the petition and announced that the colonists had confessed rebellion, -
Common Sense
This was a book written by Thomas Paine arguing two main points: Independence from England and the creation of a democratic republic. He talked about wanting the establishment of a republic which spread the Patriot cause. This book was published anonymously in January 1776 and sold nearly 120,000 copies and most people thought it was written by John Adams who denied it.
