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French and Indian War 1754-63
The French and Indian War ended with the Treaty of Paris, which did not allow them to take land from the Native Americans and made Britain responsible for paying off the debt from the war. To pay off the war, Britain taxed colonists. The taxes mostly attempted to regulate trade. Colonists did not like this because they were not represented when the taxes were created. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act cut the taxes on sugar in half, however, rules against smuggling were enforced and tried. The colonists did not like the Sugar Act because the British courts regulated it rather than the colonial courts. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act proclaimed that all paper must have a stamp that must be paid for in order to use paper. The colonists reacted to this by meeting in the city hall of New York City and decided to boycott all British products. The Sons of Liberty used coordinated action to ensure that all colonists knew to boycott British products. -
Declaratory Act
The Declaratory Act repealed the taxes imposed on the colonists. The colonists saw this as a victory because the taxes they protested against were removed. -
Townshend Act
The Townshend Acts created new taxes for the colonists and ensured that smuggling was regulated again. Most colonists were not happy with the act and started boycotting the things that the taxes were on. Women also joined the boycott and became the Daughters of Liberty. However, merchants did not like the boycott because it caused their earnings to decrease. -
Tea Act
The boycotts against the taxes in the Townshend Acts caused most of the taxes on products to be repealed. The only tax that was not repealed was the tea tax. The Tea Act caused tea to become cheaper, however, colonists did not the tea act because it showed that Britain could tax anything. This caused the colonists to dump tea into Boston Harbor as a form of protest. -
Revolutionary War 1775-83
The Intolerable Acts were created as a result of the Boston Tea Party and started the Revolutionary War. Twelve of the thirteen colonies met up in the first continental congress. On April 19, 1975, the war between Britain and colonists started. By the end of the war, colonists declared independence from Britain and became the United States of America.