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aka 7 Years War between France and England. In the colonies, it was called the French Indian War because the colonists fought with British soldiers against France the Indians who were on side of France. Because of the war, England had a massive war debt began to tax the people in the 13 colonies. -
hands off approach by Great Britain; British policy of loosely enforcing laws and regulations in the American colonies, allowing them to govern themselves. -
a British law that imposed a direct tax on the American colonies, requiring a special stamp, purchased from the British government, to be placed on all legal documents, newspapers, playing cards, and other printed materials to indicate that the tax had been paid. -
a deadly confrontation on March 5, 1770, where British soldiers fired into a crowd of angry colonists, killing five people and wounding several others in Boston. -
a series of British parliamentary acts imposing duties on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea imported into the American colonies to raise revenue and assert control. -
a political protest by the Sons of Liberty on December 16, 1773, where they dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. -
a series of four laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 to punish the American colony of Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. -
the convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that served as the de facto national government of the United States from 1775 to 1781 during the American Revolution -
a final plea from the Second Continental Congress to King George III, seeking a "happy and permanent reconciliation" and an end to the escalating conflict between Great Britain and the American colonies -
marked the start of the American Revolutionary War. The British army marched to seize colonial arms in Concord, leading to skirmishes with colonial militia (Minutemen) in Lexington and then a larger battle in Concord as the British retreated to Boston. -
a British parliamentary law requiring American colonists to provide housing, food, and other supplies for British soldiers stationed in the colonies -
a powerful, influential pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that argued for American independence from Great Britain, using plain language to convince average colonists of the "common sense" of severing ties with the monarchy. -
the foundational U.S. document, adopted by the Continental Congress that formally announced the thirteen American colonies' separation from Great Britain, explaining their reasons and declaring themselves a new nation. -
a pivotal meeting of delegates from five states at Mann's Tavern in Annapolis, Maryland, that highlighted the commercial and governmental weaknesses under the Articles of Confederation. -
a populist uprising in western Massachusetts, led by former Continental Army captain Daniel Shays, against high taxes, debt collection, and perceived governmental corruption. -
a meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 states (Rhode Island did not attend) to create a new frame of government for the United States, replacing the weak Articles of Confederation. -
the first written constitution for the United States. -
Beginning in 1763 economic policy England followed when it came to the 13 colonies. England saw the colonies as a market for English goods wanted to get money (taxes) natural resources from the colonies.