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French-Indian War
The French and Indian War began in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The war provided Great Britain enormous territorial gains in North America, but disputes over subsequent frontier policy and paying the war's expenses led to colonial discontent, and ultimately to the American Revolution. -
Navigation Acts
The Navigation Acts were a series of laws passed by the British Parliament that imposed restrictions on colonial trade. British economic policy was based on mercantilism, which aimed to use the American colonies to bolster British state power and finances. -
Stamp Act
The act required the colonists to pay a tax, represented by a stamp, on various forms of papers, documents, and playing card. -
Quartering Act
Great Britain would house its soldiers in American barracks and public houses. -
The Declaration of Independence
The document announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain. It was the last of a series of steps that led the colonies to final separation from Great Britain. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred, between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers.5 colonists were killed. -
Intolerable Acts (aka Coercive Acts)
The Coercive Acts (called the Intolerable Acts by the colonists) included a new Quartering Act that provided arrangements for housing British troops in American dwellings. -
Battle of Lexington & Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord the famous 'shot heard 'round the world', marked the start of the American War of Independence . Politically disastrous for the British, it persuaded many Americans to take up arms and support the cause of independence. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress, meeting in May 1775, appointed George Washington commander in chief of the army. It later approved the Declaration of Independence (1776) and prepared the Articles of Confederation (1781), which granted certain powers to the Congress. -
Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by Congress to be sent to the King as a last attempt to prevent formal war from being declared. The Petition emphasized their loyalty to the British crown and emphasized their rights as British citizens. The Congress met according to adjournment. -
Common Sense
Published in 1776, Common Sense challenged the authority of the British government and the royal monarchy. The plain language that Paine used spoke to the common people of America and was the first work to openly ask for independence from Great Britain. -
Townshend Acts
To help pay the expenses involved in governing the American colonies, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, which initiated taxes on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. Nonimportation. In response to new taxes, the colonies again decided to discourage the purchase of British imports. -
Articles of confederation
Article 1: Created the name of the combined 13 states as The United States of America. Article 2: State governments still had their own powers that were not listed in the Articles of Confederation. Article 3: The combined states were responsible for helping to protect each other from attacks. -
Daniel Shays’ Rebellion
A group of protestors, led by Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays, began a 6 month rebellion by taking over the Court of Common Pleas in Northampton; the goal was to prevent the trial and imprisonment of debt-ridden citizens. -
Constitutional convention (aka philadelphia convention)
The point of the event was decide how America was going to be governed. Although the Convention had been officially called to revise the existing Articles of Confederation, many delegates had much bigger plans.