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STAMP ACT
The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. -
SUGAR ACT
Sugar Act. a law passed by the British Parliament in 1764 raising duties on foreign refined sugar imported by the colonies so as to give British sugar growers in the West Indies a monopoly on the colonial market. -
BOSTON MASSACRE
The Boston Massacre. The Meaning and Definition of the Boston Massacre: The Boston Massacre was a pre-revolutionary incident that occurred on March 5, 1770. British soldiers, who were quartered in the city, fired into a rioting mob killing five American civilians in the Boston Massacre. -
BOSTON TEA PARTY
Boston Tea Party. a raid on three British ships in Boston Harbor (December 16, 1773) in which Boston colonists, disguised as Indians, threw the contents of several hundred chests of tea into the harbor as a protest against British taxes on tea and against the monopoly granted the East India Company. -
THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON
First Revolutionary Battle at Lexington and Concord. In April 1775, when British troops are sent to confiscate colonial weapons, they run into an untrained and angry militia. This ragtag army defeats 700 British soldiers and the surprise victory bolsters their confidence for the war ahead. -
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress, states the reasons the British colonies of North America sought independence in July of 1776. -
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVETION
Constitutional Convention definition. The gathering that drafted the Constitution of the United States in 1787; all states were invited to send delegates. The convention, meeting in Philadelphia, designed a government with separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
