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Navigation Acts
The Navigation Acts were laws passed by Great Britain to try to have a monopoly over the trading industry of the colonies. This caused all goods from the colonies being traded to or from the colonies to go through Britain first. -
Writs of Assistance
This law allowed any customs official a permanent warrant to check any house they like for arms or smuggled goods. It was unfair to the colonists who had a right to basic privacy, and the majority of them weren't guilty or even suspected of any sort of crime. -
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris was a document of surrender by the French to the British at the end of the French and Indian War. This caused the French to lose all land they acquired in the New World, and caused Britain's land to expand, although they were sent into debt. -
Proclamation Act (1763)
This act was passed to protect the Native Americans. It prevented colonists from settling past the Appalachian Mountains, and the ones that already lived past the Proclamation Line were evicted out of their homes. -
Sugar Act
This act taxed the colonists on the sugar they purchased. Since all goods to the colonies had to go through Britain, the only way to get sugar was to buy it from them. This caused many colonists to become irritable and even try to find a way around the tax by smuggling. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was a last-ditch effort by Britain to rake in as much money from the colonists as possible, requiring them to pay taxes on paper, a necessary item. This caused the Stamp Act Congress to form, and for the Sons of Liberty to rise to power. -
Quartering Acts
This was an act the sent many British soldiers to the colonies and have them live in the colonists' homes without consent. This made many colonists upset about the British violating not only financial respect, but also the safety and privacy of their own home. -
Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act Congress was a congress held to discuss the Stamp Act, and caused the Sons of Liberty to form. This made the Sons of Liberty to take action and protest against these acts. -
Declaratory Act
The Declaratory Act was an act passed by King George III in order to prove his power to the colonies. This caused the colonists to fully reject the king, as this law was made only to flex. -
Townshend Acts
This act placed taxes on many goods including paper, tea, glass, and basic everyday items, but the added on tax was hidden in the price so that people potentially wouldn't notice that they were paying taxes. The colonists eventually realized they were paying extra prices for average items, however, and this angered them. -
Boston Massacre
This event occurred when a drunken colonist was berating a customs officer at his guard post. Eventually, an entire crowd of colonists shows up, and the officer calls for backup. When they arrive, they mishear a command to not fire, and they end up firing at the colonists. 5 colonists die, the first of whom was a runaway slave named Crispus Attucks. People like Sam Adams and Paul Revere used this event to propagate the notion that the British are evil and the colonists deserve independence. -
Tea Act
This was the only act to remove taxes. It removed all Townshend taxes on all goods except for tea, and it was put in place for the sole purpose of giving the British East India Company a monopoly over all tea in the Colonies. The colonists didn't like the idea that their tea would be incredibly expensive, so they protested a lot. -
Boston Tea Party
A group of colonists led by Sam Adams dress up as Natives and raid ships in Boston Harbor, throwing the tea into the water. They end up throwing over 300 barrels of tea into the harbor, and it causes contempt from the king of Britain. -
Coercive Acts
These acts were put in place to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party and contained within it the Quartering Acts and many more. This caused unrest among the colonists, and they even formed militias to protects against the redcoats, the name for the British army. -
First Continental Congress
12 of the 13 colonies (all of them except for Georgia) showed up at a meeting in Philadelphia to discuss the unity of the colonies. They agree to form Militias for each city, the likes of which would be made up of everyday people within the towns. They agree that this fight was for colonial rights, and not necessarily independence. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Lexington Militia sets up 77 soldiers to fight against about 700 to 1,000 British redcoats that were marching through the colonies. They had orders to not fire, however, somebody did. No one knows who fired the first shot, but it caused the Militia to retreat, having 8 of their men killed/wounded. The British proceeded to march to Concord. -
Second Continental Congress
A second meeting was held again in Philadelphia to discuss what would help the colonists. They agree to officially set up an army and make George Washington the general. They also agree to print their own currency. -
Olive Branch Petition
At the Second Continental Congress, the representatives from all colonies except Georgia (who weren't there) agreed to send a petition to King George III called the Olive Branch Petition. It was a final plea to not go to war with England. The king ended up rejecting the petition. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The British tried to take over Boston after their loss at Concord, but the militia of Boston came prepared. They hid on top of a hill named Bunker Hill, and only fired at the British when they got very close since their weapons weren't as good as the British. The British ended up seizing the hill, but they lost over 1,000 men while the Colonists only lost about 400. The colonists took this as a prideful event, since they held their own against the most skilled army in the world at the time. -
Common Sense
This pamphlet by Thomas Paine was a call to the neutral colonists about which side they should join in the war effort. It caused a lot of them to change their minds and join the colonists in the war. -
Declaration of Independence
This was the founding document of the United States. Contained within it was a load of new rights it gave to the Colonists, as well as their "declaration of independence" from England, which is them declaring that they are their own country.