-
Navigation Acts
The Navigation Acts were laws passed by England to maintain control over colonial trade.The Acts made colonists buy English goods in limited trade between the colonies and other countries. -
Treaty of Paris of 1763
The document that ended the war between the British and French over the Ohio River Valley. This treaty ended French power in North America and expanded British Territory and increased debt. -
Proclamation Act
The Proclamation Act made the colonists stay east of the Appalachian Mountains. It was meant to keep the natives and colonists from fighting so England wouldn't go deeper into debt. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act lowered the tax on sugar and molassesto 3 pence. It was enforced strictly and smugglers would have severe punishments. -
Writs of Assistance of 1765
They were search warrants that allowed British soldiers to search any household for goods. This limited the movement of smugglers. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act made the colonists pay taxes on any paper they buy (playing cards, wills, diplomas, letters, contracts, etc.) They also had to buy stamps and stamp marks from England on every piece of legal and other printed papers. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act allowed the soldiers the British sent over to stay in colonists' houses. This limited the movement of the Sons of Liberty. -
Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act Congress caused them to petition the King and boycott British goods. From this, the Sons of Liberty was formed as a secret society to oppose the British and led protests against the Stamp Act. -
Declaratory Act
The Declaratory Act said just said the British had supreme authority over the colonies. The colonists ignored this, and started to fight over control of the colonies. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts placed taxes on paper, paint, glass, and tea before they got into the colonies. This made the colonists mad and they protested the acts and boycotted British goods. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre occurred when a solitary British soldier was protecting the Customs House and was attacked by some colonials. He called for backup, and the mob grew, and the situation escalated until the British fired. The rebels used the Boston Massacre as propaganda. -
Tea Act
The Tea Act lowered the tax on tea, but gave the East India Company a monopoly on tea sales. This angered the colonists, and was one of the reasons the colonists followed through with the Boston Tea Party. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a protest led by the colonists against the British where they jumped onto a ship dressed as natives and dumped all the tea on the ship into the harbor. The British did nothing to stop them, and this was kind of like a first victory for the colonists. -
Coercive Acts
The colonists called these the Intolerable Acts. These allowed Parliament to shut down Boston's port (preventing them from trading), forced the colonists to have to ask the governor for permission to have town meetings, let officials be tried in Canada for major crimes, and passed a new Overturning act. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia. Georgia wasn't there, but supported decisions. In the First Continental Congress, they voted to ban all trade with the British until the Coercive/Intolerable Acts were repealed and called for a militia (known as minutemen) for the colonies. They also started thinking about ideas for an independent government. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The first battle was the Battle of Lexington. 70 minutemen, prepared but with little ammunition, and 700 professional British soldiers were there. No one knows who fired the first shot (the "shot heard 'round the world"), and although the colonists lost the battle, they were proud they had held their ground. When the British were on their way to Concord was when the Battle of Concord commenced. The colonists followed them the whole way back and shot at them from behind trees and houses. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia and agreed to make an official army for the colonies. George Washington was named the general, and printing money was authorized to pay the soldiers. They also sent a petition to King George the Third. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill followed Lexington and Concord. The minutemen took a hill outside Boston and fought 2,200 soldiers. Since they didn't have much ammunition, they weren't to fire "until they saw the whites of their eyes." They lost, but were able to kill 1000 soldiers. -
Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was asking King George the Third for harmony between the colonists and England. The King rejected it and only fought with them more. -
Common Sense
Common Sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine to show how it was "common sense" to leave England. It criticized the idea that the King ruled by the will of God, and said that all monarchies were corrupt. It convinced many to join against the British.