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French/Indian War
The French and Indian War consisted of two major European powers going to battle over territory. Britain (led by George Washington) and France had a falling out over land and wealth. The winner ended up being Britain who got the upper/ruling hand with the colonies. -
Stamp Act
The British Parliament passed the Stamp Act on March 22, 1965. It was a tax directed at the colonists. Now, whenever they wanted to print paper and other materials, they had to pay tax for a stamp. The stamp showed you payed your taxes and were now allowed to print. -
Townshend Act
The Townshend Act was a set of laws that taxed the goods that were imported to the American colonies. They were implemented by the British who wanted to teach the colonists to pay for themselves. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre happened when British soldiers started shooting at a group of American colonists, killing five of them. This all started over and argument between a British Private and a some colonists. -
Tea Act
American colonists were only able to purchase tea from the East India Company. The British implemented this law because that tea company was not doing well so this lowered their prices and gave them more business. -
Boston Tea Party
A group of American colonists decided to dress up as Native Americans and throw 342 trunks of cargo into the ocean. This was the British tea ships that was headed to Boston. The Americans saw this as an act of rebellion against the British. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts was a set of laws implemented by the British against the American's as payback for the Boston Tea Party. They were given the name "Intolerable" because the American's were not able to live with such cruel laws. -
1st and 2nd Continental Congress
This was a meeting with all the leaders/delegates of the thirteen colonies. During the first meeting, they discussed the issues with the Intolerable Acts. The colonists even wrote a letter to King George the third expressing their opinions about those unjust laws. During the second meeting, they formed a little government with their own army and money. -
Lexington and Concord
There was trouble building up between the 13 colonies for a long time. One day, the British decided to march from Boston to Concord in order to confiscate the weapons in the colonies. Paul Revere kept a close eye on the British up until they decided to go against the Americans. Revere road until his death in order to sound a bell to warn the Americans. They ended up defeating the British which gave them the upper hand in the war that was about to come. -
Publishing of "Common Sense"
Thomas Paine was the author of a pamphlet titled "Common Sense". This was aimed at the British government to give back America's freedom. This was the first work published that openly asked for America's independence.
