-
Period: to
French and Indian War
Also known as the Seven Years' War, Britain and the colonies defeated France. Because of this, Britain gained most of France's territories in eastern North America. The large amount of new land caused Parliament to tighten control over economic and political affairs in the colonies. Colonist did not like the idea of decision making being centralized in London. -
Proclamation of 1763
Proclamation was issued by King George III, it stated that the British had control of land transactions, settlement, and trade west of the Appalachian Mountains. This act made colonist's angry by taking away their western claims to imperial authority and it slowed down colonial expansion. -
Sugar Act
Intended to raise revenue to help with the expenses of the English military in North America. This ended Britain's long lasting policy of exempting colonial trade from revenue-raising measures. This act said that all shipments had to go through Britain first to be heavily and unfairly taxed. It also required captains of the ships to fill out complicated paperwork. If even one thing was missing, their ships were at risk of being seized and loosing value and profits which put people out of jobs. -
Stamp Act
This act stated that all colonists had to purchase a "special" paper for newspapers, customs documents, various licenses, diplomas, etc... to be taxed. Colonists felt that Stamp Act forced them to either confront the issue of parliamentary taxation head on or surrender any claims of self-government. -
Quartering Act
Parliament felt that British soldier's were not being properly cared for in the colonies, so because of that, the Quartering Act was passed to ensure that English soldiers had to place to eat and sleep in the colonies during their time of service. Colonists were not compensated for this and it angered most colonists because it was a violation of there rights. Some Colonists viewed this as an invitation for rebellion because it was hard for poor colonists to house soldiers. -
Townshend Acts
These laws placed new taxes on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. Colonial reaction to these taxes was the same as to the Sugar Act and Stamp Act, and Britain eventually repealed all the taxes except the one on tea. In response to the sometimes violent protests by the American colonists, Great Britain sent more troops to the colonies. -
Boston Massacre
The killing of 4 colonist after they threw snowballs filled with rocks at British troops in Boston. The Boston Massacre deepened American distrust of the British military presence in the colonies, and heightened colonists to stand up to the government. -
Tea Act
Gave a monopoly on tea sales to the East India Company. The Tea Act lowered the price on this East India tea so much that it was way below tea from other suppliers. But the American colonists saw this law as yet another means of "taxation without representation" because it meant that they couldn't buy tea from anyone else with out spending a lot more money. Their response was to refuse to unload the tea from the ships and completely boycott tea which angered Britain. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a protest against the heavy taxes set by Britain on tea. American Colonists were so angered for Britain imposing more taxes, "taxation without representation" that colonists went to the tea harbor and dumped 342 chests of tea that were imported by the British East India Company, many dressed up like Indians and shouted chants. -
Intolerable Acts
Series of laws set in place by Great Britain in response to the Boston Tea Party. These Acts were the harshest so far of all the Acts passed by Parliament. Rather than keep the colonists down, the Intolerable Acts stirred the colonist's to a revolution. -
First Continental Congress
56 delegates were sent from each of the 13 colonies to meet in Philadelphia as representatives. These representatives debated the issues of the rights of colonists as a united group, and passed resolutions stating that Parliament did NOT have the right to pass laws in the colonies, and only had the right to regulate trade between the colonies and Great Britain. They further resolved that by December of the same year they would cease importing any goods from Great Britain. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The battles showed the start of the American Revolution. The British army marched into Lexington and Concord intending to suppress the possibility of rebellion by seizing weapons from the colonists. Instead, their actions of violence started the uprising war.