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sugar act
This placed a tax on sugar and molasses imported into the colonies. This was a huge disruption to the Boston and New England economies because they used sugar and molasses to make rum, a main export in their trade with other countries. -
stamp act
To help pay for British troops stationed in the colonies during the Seven Years' War. The act required the colonists to pay a tax, represented by a stamp, on various forms of papers, documents, and playing cards. -
Townshend act
To help pay the expenses involved in governing the American colonies, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, which initiated taxes on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. -
Boston massacre
Seven British soldiers fired into a crowd of volatile Bostonians, killing five, wounding another six, and angering an entire colony. -
Boston Tea Party
American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for imposing “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of tea, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. The British response to the Boston Tea Party was to impose even more stringent policies on the Massachusetts colony. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence states the principles on which our government, and our identity as Americans, are based. Unlike the other founding documents, the Declaration of Independence is not legally binding, but it is powerful. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was signed by U.S. and British Representatives on September 3, 1783, ending the War of the American Revolution. -
Shay Rebellion
Shays had escaped to Vermont. Afterward, he moved to Schoharie County, New York, and then, several years later, farther westward to Sparta, New York. -
Virginia Plan
Virginia Plan outlined a strong national government with three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. -
New Jersey Plan
Designed to protect the security and power of the small states by limiting each state to one vote in Congress, as under the Articles of Confederation.