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Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 prevented settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains in order for the king to control the colonies. This irritated colonists because they couldn't settle in all of the area they wanted to. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act taxed colonists on foreign items such as molasses and rum in order for England to pay off debt from the seven years war. This made colonists mad because they did not have any say in it and it upset balance of trade. -
Currency Act
The Currency act didn't allow new bills because there was no standard value of currency for all colonies. Colonists protested this because it was hard for them to get money. -
Stamp Act
The stamp act required colonists to pay direct taxes on items and raised stamp taxes in order to raise money for Britain. Colonists sent representatives to the stamp act congress because they were unhappy paying these taxes to the king and wanted a say in the act. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act required colonists to provide food and quarters for British troops in order to raise revenue for Britain. This made colonists angry because they had to give troops their things even if they didn't want to. -
Declaratory Act
The declaratory stated that Parliament could make laws binding the American Colonies in order to better secure dependency of parliament of British colonies to the crown. Some celebrated this because it was a political victory while others were unhappy because it hinted more acts were coming. -
Townshend Revenue Act
The Townshend Revenue Act placed taxes on glass, tea, lead, paint, and paper in order to raise money for Britain. The colonists objected this act because it appeared as an attack on legislative, revenue was used to pay officials and assemblies usually paid officials. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a violent fight between colonists and British Soldiers because colonists were unhappy paying all of the taxes. In the Massacre colonists threw snowballs or chunks of ice and soldiers had guns. In the end, five colonists were dead. -
Tea Act
The tea act shipped tea to colonies at a lower price in order to prop up the East India Company who struggled financially and had a lot of unsold tea. Colonists either tried to send back the tea, let the tea rot, or left it in the port leading to the Boston Tea Party all because they did not want the Tea but they had no say in it. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party occurred because colonists were mad about taxes specifically on tea. When the Dartmouth ship came to Boston carrying very many crates of tea the colonists refused to take the tea and tried to turn the sip around. The governor of Britain would not let the ship leave. At night the Sons of Liberty went on the ship dressed as native Americans and opened all of the crates of tea and threw it off into the harbor destroying it. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts closed the harbor until destroyed tea was pair for, gave the governor right to move people who destroyed items to different locations, allowed Britain to house troops if troops pay rent, and suspended Massachusetts royal charter giving the crown more power, all to teach Boston a lesson for the Boston Tea party. Colonists viewed this as one of worst tendencies of imperial legislation because there were many acts all together that they didn't have input on. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
Minute Men are men in the colonies who have to be ready to fight any minute. The minute men had supplies from Britain because they used to work together but the General wanted it back so he sent soldiers to the Lexington green to fight. The battle then moved to Concord where the patriots won the fight. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The battle of Bunker hill was fought between the British Soldiers and patriots over the land of Bunkers Hill. The battle took place on Breed's hill because the British went to the wrong place. They both wanted this land because from the hill you could see everything which meant you had control of Boston Harbor. Although more British soldiers died and were wounded the British ended up wining the war because the Colonists fled. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was written towards the King, world, and colonies by colonists who were declaring independence. It stated how horrible the king treated them to show that they needed to separate from England. -
Battle of Trenton
The battle of Trenton was fought during the revolutionary war between the Hessians and Britain against Americans. After a 10 year campaign the Americans won the battle. This made both army's more united and gave the Americans control of New Jersey. -
Battle of Saratoga
The battle of Saratoga was one of the battles during the revolutionary war with John Burgoynes leading the British, Peter Gansevourt leading the colonists, and Jaseph Brant who was a tribal leader. The Americans won this battle when British surrendered. This contributed to Americans Independence, inhanced morale of American soldiers, and motivated more people to join the battle of Albany. -
Battle of Valley Forge
The Battle of Valley Forge during the revolution took place near Philadelphia. George Washington lead the Americans and Baron Von Steuben helped train them. The Americans won this battle although 2,000 ended up dying because of diseases. This allowed Americans to regain their confidence after a win. -
Battle of Yorktown
Battle in the revolutionary war starting with British General Cornwallis going to Yorktown. George Washington found out so him and his men started a siege that the British couldn't escape, so America ended up winning the war. This was the end of the war. -
Treaty of Paris
After the revolutionary war was over, to officially end the war, American men went to negotiate with the British Government. These men were John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Henry Lawrence. They established their independence and boundaries. This created peace and changed the power of the America and the motherland. -
The Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion occurred when Pennsylvania started a rebellion because of the tax on spirits. Washington responded to this by using militia force which brought up a question of how much force the king is allowed to use. -
XYZ Affair
France starting attacking America's ships so President Adams sent three American diplomats to negotiate with the French Foreign Minister. The minister refused to meet with them so he sent three representatives who we call X, Y, and Z. This showed that France didn't respect us as much. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
The acts were created because Americans were worried about European immigrants who might side with the French in the future. The Alien Act made it so the president could imprison anyone considered dangerous who wasn't a U.S. citizen. The Sedition Act said it was a crime to say false criticism of the government. These Acts contradicted the constitution because who is dangerous is an opinion and the people are supposed to have the freedom of speech and press. -
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
The anti-federalists thought the Alien and Sedition acts were an abuse of power and unconstitutional. The Kentucky resolution made it so states could nullify laws. This showed the states can have equal power as the federal government and it set a precedent for the states to go against the federal government. -
Embargo Act
The Embargo Act was placed because the U.S. wanted Britain and France to respect their neutral trading rights without having a war. This act didn't allow American ships to leave the ports to go to foreign countries. This hurt the American and the European economies because no one could trade with the U.S. to get resources they needed. -
War of 1812
The war of 1812 was the second American Revolution for America to show the British that they should treat us with equal respect and that we are really free. Some people wanted to go to war because we had to stop the British from attacking our ships and kidnapping our soldiers. Some people didn't want to go to war because human life is sacred and it would hurt our economy. The war ended by no one surrendering so they signed a treaty. -
McCulloch v. Maryland
McCulloch v. Maryland started when congress created the first bank of the U.S. but people realized that the Constitution doesn't directly say they have that power. Maryland tried to close the Baltimore Branch of the bank because the state passed a law making all banks created outside of the state to pay taxes and James McCulloch the manager didn't pay the tax. McCulloch was sued but when it eventually reached the supreme court, they favored towards McCulloch. -
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was created by James Monroe because nothing else was working to get Britain and France to stop interfering with American. It declared that the European countries could no longer colonize in the Western Hemisphere and in return the U.S. wouldn't interfere with them either.