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1. Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris was created to end the French and Indian War, which was actually fought mainly between France and Great Britian. The French King at the time, King Louis XV wanted peace because they were losing the war against Britian. The British King, King George III wanted to end the Seven's Year War as well, because Britian was in a lot of debt. -
2. Proclamation Act
King Goerge III passed the Proclamation Act, which did not allow settlements passed a line in the Appalachian Mountains.This was passed after the Seven Years' War, as a way to keep the colonists grouped in a certain place. Some colonists were evicted from their homes, which many were not happy about. -
3. Sugar Act
Parliament passed an act that made merchants pay taxes for the sugar that was imported from different countries. This act was renewed in 1764, where not only molasses was taxed, but so were many other foreign goods. This forced colonists to only trade with Britian. -
4. Stamp Act
This act required colonists to pay a tax on all printer paper, including newspapers and legal documents. This was passed by the British Parliament, and it is important to note that no one represented the colonists in the British Parliament. -
5. Quartering Act
This was and act passed by British Parliament. It declared that American colonists had to house and feed British troops as needed. They were to provide them with free care, even though many colonists could not afford to do so. -
6. Stamp Act Congress
This was the first meeting in the American Colonies which represented from different colonies met. Although not all colonies were represented, they still met in New York City, and talked about how they would show the British crown they had some backbone when they stated "no taxation without representation". -
7. Declaration of Rights and Grievances
This declaration was passed by the Stamp Act Congress, and it was in response to the Stamp Act. It brought to attention the issue of taxation without representation. John Dickenson made the original draft for this Declaration. -
9. Declaratory Act
This act, after the many requests of the colonists, reduced the affects of the Sugar Act and repealed the Stamp Act.The Declaratory Act was passed by the British Parliament after much discussion. -
8. Stamp Act Repealed
After a discussion with Benjamin Franklin, the British Parliament decides to repeal the Stamp Act. Although, the same day they passed the Declaratory Acts, in which it gave the Parliament a lot of power over the colonies. -
10. Townshend Act
The Townshend Acts were four acts passed by the British Parliament, starting on June 15, 1767 and ending on July 2, 1767. Acts were named after Charles Townshend, after he suggested these laws put into place. -
11. Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was the result of a street riot formed by the Patriots. The British soldiers responded to the riot with shooting their guns. In the end five colonists were killed and this event game way to many speech writers using this event as an example of exactly why the American Colonies needed to start a Revolution. -
12. Tea Act
The last spark for the Revolutionary War to begin was the passing of the Tea Act. In and of itself the Tea Act was not that special, it just forced colonists to only by tea from the British East India Colony. Although, this was all it took to force many American colonists over the edge, creating a group called the Sons of Liberty. -
13. Committee of Correspondence
The Committee of Correspondence were created so that the colonies could more easily communicate with one another. This committee was created as a result of British laws being passed and was made up of Patriot leaders from the thirteen colonies. -
14. Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was organized by the Sons of Liberty, and they threw a lot of tea overboard that were from England. In all they threw 340 chests of tea overboard into the water while dressed up as Indians. This was in response to the Tea Act which only allowed colonists to buy tea from the British East India Company. -
15. Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts started on March 31, 1774, and ended on June 22, 1774. These were acts passed by the British Parliament that were as described above, intolerable. These laws were meant as a punishment to the colonists in Massachusetss after the Boston Tea Party. -
16. First Continental Congress
The FIrst Continental Congress included representatives from twelve of the thirteen colonies. Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennslyvania, the leaders planned out if America's next move was to create peace of wage war.These meetings ended on October 26th. -
17. Lexington and Concord
Lexington and Concord is widely known as "the shot heard around the world". This is known as the first official battle of the American Revolutionary War. -
18. Bunker Hill
The Americans had set up cannons and other ammunition in bunkers on a hill near the British homestead. William Howe (General leading the British force) decided to march up the hill toward the colonists. Only when the British force came very close to the bunkers did the colonists start shooting, which caused many British people to die. Eventually the British were able to get their hill back, but at a great cost. 1,054 British men had died in the attack. -
19. Appeal to Reason Rejected (Olive Branch Petition)
The Olive Petition was written by John Dickinson, hoping for a renewal of peace between the American colonies and Great Britian. Instead of accepting the petition, King Goerge III decided to refuse to read it, so the Earl of Dartmouth was given the petition instead to no avail. -
20. Common Sense
Thomas Jefferson started writing Common Sense in 1776, but it was published on February 14. Common Sense motivated many colonists to stand up for their rights and start a Revolution. -
21. Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is widely known as the document that cut off all of our ties with Britian. The Declaration stated all the reasons why the colonists decided to break off from England and how they would chose to govern themselves. Many signed the Declaration, and the largest of these signatures was John Hancock.
