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French and Indian War
War fought between Great Britain and its two enemies, the French and the Indians of North America. Most of the battles were in Canada. American colonists, including George Washington, fought with the British in this war, which lasted from 1754 to 1763. The British won the war and won the right to keep Canada and several other possessions in the New World. -
The Proclamation Line Of
A proclamation from the british government which forbade british colonists from settling west of the appalacian mountains, and which required any settlers already living west of the mountains to move back east. -
Sugar act
1764 Act that put a three-cent tax on foreign refined sugar and increased taxes on coffee, indigo, and certain kinds of wine. It banned importation of rum and French wines. These taxes affected only a certain part of the population, but the affected merchants were very vocal. Besides, the taxes were enacted (or raised) without the consent of the colonists. This was one of the first instances in which colonists wanted a say in how much they were taxed -
Stamp Act
revenue law passed by the British Parliament during the ministry of George Grenville. The first direct tax to be levied on the American colonies, it required that all newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents, commercial bills, advertisements, and other papers issued in the colonies bear a stamp. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act was an act passed by British Parliament to ensure that British soldiers would be properly billeted and fed during their times of service in the North American Colonies. In fact, Parliament passed two separate Quartering Acts, one in 1765 and another in 1774, and both became serious bones of contention among the Colonists. -
Declaratory Act
passed in 1766 just after the repeal of the stamp act, the declaratory act stated that parliament could legislate for the colonies in all cases. most colonists interpreted the act as a face-saving mechanism and nothing more. parliament, however, continually interpreted the act in its broadest sense in order to legislate in and control the colonies. -
Townshend Acts
Series of 1767 laws named for Charles Townshend, British Chancellor of the Exchequer (Treasurer). 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 Colonial reaction to these taxes was the same as to the Sugar Act and Stamp Act, and Britain eventually repealed all the taxes except the one on tea.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
Shooting of five American colonists by British troops on March 5, 1770. One person, an African-American man named Crispus Attacks, was killed. Nearly every part of the story is disputed by both sides. Did the colonists have weapons? The British say rocks and other such weapons were hurled at them. But the British had guns, and they did open fire. The Boston Massacre deepened American distrust of the British military presence in the colonies. -
Committees of Correspondence
groups appointed by the legislatures in the 13 BritishAmerican colonies to provide colonial leadership and aid intercolonial cooperation. -
Tea Act
1773 Act that gave a monopoly on tea sales to the East India Company. In other words, American colonists could buy no tea unless it came from that company. Why? Well, the East Indian Company wasn't doing so well, and the British wanted to give it some more business. 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