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Stamp Act
This was an act issued by the Parliament, who wanted to raise their revenue in the form of direct taxing. Colonists were required to pay extra money for things such as legal documents, licenses, newspapers, pamphlets and playing cards and colonists who refused to buy stamps could be fined or sent to jail. Reactions to the Stamp Act included a series of resolutions stating that the Stamp Act violated the rights of the colonies presented by Patrick Henry, who was a -
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Henry, who was a Virginian lawyer, as well as colonists boycotting taxed items. The colonists also claimed of taxation without representation. A secret society, Sons of Liberty, was created and this group sometimes used violence against tax collectors in order to frighten them. Colonists were not the only ones harmed by this act. The London merchants’ trades were suffering from the colonial boycott. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts, not unlike the Stamp Act, was created in order to raise the British’s revenue using direct taxing. This act placed taxes on products such as glass, lead, paper and tea. This taxing was hated by the colonists because they thought it took away power from the colonial governments and the poorer colonists had to pay additional money which could be used for other, more important things. In addition, tax collectors were given the right to search for smuggled goods. As a result of -
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that, British goods were further boycotted. Also in response to that, Samuel Adams wrote a circular letter arguing that this was a violation to the legal rights of the colonists. -
Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act Congress, which took place in New York, was called for by the members of the Massachusetts legislature. The delegates from the colonies issued a declaration that the Stamp Act was a violation of the colonist’s rights and liberties since it pushed the idea of taxation without representation. The colonists thought that the Parliament should not have the right to tax and legislate for them if they did not have a representative to speak their voices. The Parliament was soon pressured t -
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to repeal the Stamp Act since the colonists were not the only people harmed by it. The trade of the London merchants suffered from the colonial boycott. -
Boston Massacre
The colonists of Boston did not welcome the British troops and saw this presence as more of a threat from the British government. The feeling of hatred was mutual for the British soldiers and name-calling, arguments and fights between them were very common. One day, a British soldier standing guard got in an argument with a colonist and the struck him. Insults as well as snowball rained down on the soldier from the group of other colonists who had gathered. Soon, a small number of troops arrived -
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and someone provoked the soldiers to shoot. The soldiers did fire at the group of colonists, killing three instantly and two more died a few days later. This incident was used as a propaganda by the patriots and it came to be known as the Boston Massacre. The soldiers and their officer were charged with murder. The officer and six soldiers were found not guilty while two soldiers were branded on the hand and released. -
Boston Tea Party
Some of the colonists, such as the merchants and smugglers, were unhappy with the Tea Act, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea directly to the colonies. To voice their dissatisfaction, these colonists dressed up as Indians and boarded three ships loaded with tea from the company. They then dumper 240 tea chests into the Boston Harbor. The Boston Tea Party was the reason for the Coercive Acts, known by the colonists as the Intolerable Acts. -
Tea Act
Although the British had repealed almost all of the Townshend Acts in order to reduce the tension building up in the colonies, the taxes on tea were kept. They knew that even with the boycotting, tea could not completely be avoided by the colonists. However, many colonial merchants were smuggling imported tea. The British East India tea company, which could not sell it’s large amount of tea directly to the colonies, had a solution for the Parliament. If they could sell this tea to the colonists -
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the Parliament. If they could sell this tea to the colonists, it could charge low prices, discouraging the colonists from smuggling any more tea. The Parliament agreed to do this and although this made cheaper tea available to the colonists, it threatened to put many merchants and smugglers out of business. -
Intolerable/Coercive Acts
The British parliament decided to punish Boston for the Boston Tea Party, where the some colonists dressed up as Indians threw 340 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. They passed the Coercive Acts which was known as the Intolerable Acts between the colonists. The Intolerable Act included the closure of the Boston Harbor until the ruined tea was paid for, the cancelation of the Massachusetts charter, the Royal Officers going to Britain for trials, a new Quartering Act, the Quebec Act and also w -
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the Quebec Act and also with the passing of this act, General Thomas Gage became the new governor of Massachusetts. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a gathering of colonial leaders with each colony sending a representative except for Georgia. This assembly was held at Carpenters Hall in Philadelphia. The leaders debated about different issues. One of them was whether or not to keep peace or break out in violence. Patrick Henry and some others though that violence could not be avoided while delegates from Pennsylvania and New York thought that peace should be kept. These delegates compromised and encouraged -
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colonists to continue with the boycott while preparing the colonial militia for war. During this congress, the Declaration of Rights, a list of ten resolutions to be sent to King George the Third, was also drafted. Although the colonies’ wishes were not to be separated from Britain, but to correct problems, the delegates agreed to meet in 1775 if the petition was refused by the king. -
Concord/Lexington
The Battle of Concord and Lexington started when the governor of Massachusetts found out that there were supplies hidden in Concord and decided to seize it. Although his plan to do this was supposed to be secret, the patriots were quickly informed from the many spies located in in Boston. Since they were unsure of how to British would come, Robert Newman was to climb the Old North Church as a watchman. If the British advanced across land, he would raise one lantern. If they rowed across Charles -
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River, he would raise two lanterns. When it was clear that the British were coming from the river, Paul Revere set off on horseback to sound alert. Drums and church bells gave a sign for the minutemen, the local militia, to get ready for a fight. When the British arrived at Lexington, the patriot leader, John Parker, told his troops not to shoot unless the British started shooting. Then, a mysterious ‘shot heard around the world’ was fired and the battle started. Although the British won that -
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battle and marched to Concord, the Redcoats were easy targets for the minutemen, and they were forced to retreat. -
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fight the Redcoats, a nickname for the British soldiers coming from the color of their uniform. George Washington was named the general of the Continental Army. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was set again in Philadelphia since King George the Third refused to do anything about the concerns listed in the Declaration of Rights. This was the first attempt at a Republican Government from the colonies. The delegates were not yet at an agreement to whether or not they should use violence so they compromised again. They authorized the Massachusetts militia to become the Continental Army which would soon consist of colonists from many different colonies to -
Battle of Bunker Hill
This battle started when the colonists learned that the British planned to control the Charlestown peninsula between the Charles and Mystic Rivers. General Prescott took 1200 of his men to dig in and fortify Breed’s Hill As soon as the British men awoke, they opened fire on the fortifications. The colonists did not open fire in order to preserve their low ammunition supplies. Once the British were within range, the colonists began firing. The British forces were driven back twice. However, -
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ammunitions and supplies were running out and on the British’s final thrust toward the hill, they succeeded. Technically, the British won the battle but they suffered too many losses to fully benefit from it. -
Olive Brach Petition
The Second Continental Congress sent the Olive Branch Petition to King George the Third in July 1775. This petition requested his help to compromise between the patriots and the British Parliament. King George refused to read it. -
Common Sense
Common sense was a 47-page pamphlet written anonymously by Thomas Paine. This argued that instead of Kings and Queens, the citizens should be making decisions and laws for themselves. It also stated that the government the colonies were under was a tyranny, and the abuse of government power. Although this was distributed in Philadelphia, Common Sense gained a much larger audience. It changed how the colonists viewed the King. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence expressed announced the colony’s independence from Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson, the main author of this document, argued that all people should have the rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Jefferson also though that King George the Third had violated these rights and that the colonies had the right to break free from Britain. The Continental Congress approved of the Declaration of Independence and this made the thirteen colonies official freedom.
