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Proclamation of 1763
This was given by King George III near the end of the French and Indian War. The purpose of this was to keep colonial expansion from going any further west of the Appalachian Mountains. This was mainly in response to the Native American Chief Pontiac and his rebellion. What the Colonists actually did was ignore the Proclamation and kept going west into more Native American territory. -
Sugar Act
Basically Parliament had a old tax in the 1730s which was on sugar and molasses. This time Parliament saw a opportunity to gain more money by enforcing this tax more and actually making it have a purpose. This enraged many colonists as they didn't want to pay the tax that they didn't agree on. This led them to find ways to get sugar and molasses into the colonies without having to pay the tax and making their relationship worse with Britain. -
Stamp Act
Everyone was involved in the Stamp Act. What it did was it added a tax on all paper items, this was like the Sugar Act as it was a large tax on products but on a bigger scale. Just like the Sugar Act the colonists became angered by this as they had to pay taxes they did not agree with and did not see coming. This caused people such as Samuel Adams to take action, in this case he created a group called the Sons of Liberty who would take a stand and fight against the changes. -
Repeal of The Stamp Act
After many issues with the Stamp Act, Parliament then repealed the Stamp Act. This made them no longer give the taxes on paper products for the Colonists. This was good for the Colonists as it seemed like they won against Parliament. To counter this Parliament then on the same day added the Declaratory Act. This act basically told the Colonists that they did have the right to tax them and they are still in power. -
Boston Massacre
After many Colonists and British Soldiers are grouped up tensions rise and things get out of hand. What ended up happening was the Soldiers opened fire on them out of what seemed like to them self-defense and that led to 5 Colonists dying. This engagement was then seen as a massacre and used as propaganda to make the British seem terrible for killing unarmed Colonists. Even John Adams was on the side of the British as he understood it was what it was even though he is strongly for independence. -
Boston Tea Party
Parliament added a Tea Act which increased the cost of tea and the Colonists did not like this. So what they did was arrange a plan to board a ship and dump tea into the Boston Harbor. They indeed did this and resulted in dumping a total of 343 chests full of tea into the harbor. That is equivalent to $18,000 in that time and over a million in today's money. Not only that but after this Parliament closed the Port of Boston and made it so there could not be anymore town meetings. -
Intolerable Acts
These were laws introduced by Parliament after the Boston Tea Party as a punishment for what the Colonists did. These included the closing of the Port of Boston and no more town meetings for the Colonists. One of the acts that were the worst for the Colonists was the Quartering Act which came along. This forced Colonists to house British Soldiers if needed in their homes. -
Lexington and Concord
60 Civilians stood their ground at Lexington against a British army and nobody knows who shot first but it is know as the shot heard around the world. What occurred after was the Colonists didn't stand a chance and many were killed and hurt and they retreated to Concord. Paul Revere heard of this and went to Concord on horse and warned them. After this the Colonists had more men and power and were ready. This led to them standing a chance and pushing back the British. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is one of the most known documents in American history. This was made by a Committee of 5 and written by Thomas Jefferson. What was in the document were 3 key ideas, those were equality, liberty, and economic participation. The Declaration also held ideas from John Locke and Thomas Paine as they inspired many parts of it and were the basis for it. This was one of the final steps they separated Britain and the Colonies. -
Battle of Saratoga
This was a big fight for the Colonists as they turned the tide of the war drastically. The British were organized while the Colonists had help from the French and were not organized. This was an advantage for the Colonists as they could fight in a way the British didn't expect and this allowed them to win against the British changing the whole war into their favor. Ben Franklin is granted responsibility for the French helping the Colonists in this battle and the war. -
Valley Forge
This was a very cold winter that was terrible for the Colonists. This was the lowest point in the whole war for them as they were fighting against nature and survival. This occurred between 1777 and 1778 and hurt their chances drastically. -
Battle of Yorktown
The final battle of the American Revolution. The Americans with the help of the French finally defeat the British and secure their independence and are now their own country. The British surrender after the multiple attempts of fighting and how the Americans slowly dwindled their army.
