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French and Indian War (1754-1763)
The French and Indian War was the beginning and the real "spark" to the Revolution. The British were left in extreme debt after, which they needed to pay off somehow, and they sure were not going to come up with $8 million. The British added, increased, and enforced current taxes that were never paid before in order to compensate for the amount of money they were in debt. The taxes were money the colonists were never paying before, and now hey are which they were furious about. -
Britain leaves troops in America
After the French and Indian war, Britain kept troops in America in order to keep "order" (under the definition of the British). They were there to enforce the new taxes, keep order in America, and enforce the laws and rules that the British have over the Americans. -
Sugar Act
It replaced the Mollasses act and lowered the cost, yet because it was never enforced before, the Americans were outraged. It issued Writs of Assistance, which allows the British to search property without a warrant. As an American who never really paid the taxes, and now they can have their things and property searched, this fueled them a lot in a furious sort of sense, which made them want to fight back and rebel against it. -
Stamp Act
This tax on printed goods was a direct tax paid separately from the item. Boycotts were issued, the Sons and Daughters of Liberty were formed to help protect the American Colonists and their rights. Stamp act Congress was established afterwards to organize boycotts and the non-importation agreement where the merchants refused to sell any goods as well. -
Townshend Acts
The British repealed the Stamp act, but in place added the Townshend Act, which was a tax on glass, paint, tea, and other items. This made the Colonists even more mad because they drank tea all the time, it was their main beverage and it being taxed infuriated the Americans. -
Quartering Act
Americans were now required to house and feed the British soldiers. If them controling them everyday and taking their tax money was not bad enough, noe they had to have the soldiers stay with them in their own homes. This made them want the soldiers out of their towns even more. -
Boston Massacre
When 5 colonists were shot in a crowd in Massachussetts. The debate still is unsettled as to who began this conflict, but the British soldiers fired in a crowd and killed 5 Americans, which made the Americans etremely frustrated and obviously they did not like people with guns who just killed them hanging around their community and this fueled them to want independence from England. -
Boston Tea Party
The Tea act was an atrocity to the Americans because they drank Tea as a primary drink. The British made it so the tea they could have came from the British East India Tea company, and they didnt want that kind, so to revolt the Americans dressed up as Indians and they dumped out $1-3 million worth of tea, and when the King heard of this, he was extremely angry and was totally prepared to use force to show them that it was an unacceptable action. -
The Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch petition was adopted by the 2nd Continental Congress and it stated 3 things; To have a cease fire in Boston, the Britishrepeal the acts and taxes, and that the King needed to define the rights that the Americans actually did have. The king read this and took it as a joke, and he then declared the Colonist in a state of rebellion. This made both sides mad at each other, and fueled the revolution-to-come even more so. -
Thomas Paine writes "Common Sense"
When the Americans began to realise that was was the only way to gain independence, they also saw that they would need many more people in order to win. Thomas Paine wrote a booklet named "Common Sense" that was extremely popular and it persuaded people to fight for independence from the grips on England. It was a huge reason that so many people joined to fight back against Britain.