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Quartering Act
Parliament passed the Quartering Act, which required residents of some colonies to feed and house British soldiers serving in America. These acts outraged colonists, who believed the taxes and regulations were unfair. Many also questioned why the British army needed to remain in North America when the French and Pontiac had already been defeated. -
Stamp Act
Even with the Sugar Act, Britain needed more money. The act required colonists to buy special watermarked paper for newspapers and all legal documents. William Pitt defended the colonists from England. The Stamp Act was an internal tax, levied directly upon the property and goods of the colonists. The act refuted the claim to self governing. -
Sugar Act
Parliament pass the Sugar Act to raise money to pay for its military. It signaled the end of colonial exemption from taxation. The act lowered the price of molasses from 6 pence to 3 pence per gallon. It also stated that colonists could export to other countries but they had to go through Britain first. -
The Stamp Act Congress
Unwilling to accept the notion of virtual representation, colonists protested the new taxes—the Stamp Act in particular—using more direct methods. In 1765, delegates from nine colonies met in New York at the Stamp Act Congress, where they drafted a plea to King George III and Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act. -
Declaratory Act
After the Sons and Daughters of Liberty took their protests to the streets, Parliament repealed their Stamp Act but secretly issues the Declaratory Act. This act reserved Britain’s right to govern and “bind” the colonies whenever and however it deemed necessary. It was during the aftermath of the Declaratory Act, from 1766 to 1773, that colonial resistance to the Crown intensified and became quite violent. -
Townshend Act
In 1767, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts. Named after Parliamentarian Charles Townshend, these acts included small tax on all imported glass, paper, lead, paint, and, most significant, tea. Hundreds of thousands of colonists drank tea daily and were therefore outraged at Parliament’s new tax.Fueled by their success in protesting the Stamp Act, colonists took to the streets again. Nonimportation agreements were strengthened, and many shippers, particularly in Boston, began to smuggle. -
Boston Massacre
To prevent serious disorder, Britain dispatched 4,000 troops to Boston in 1768. The troop deployment quickly proved a mistake. Bostonians, required to house the soldiers in their own homes, resented their presence greatly.Tensions mounted until March 5, 1770, when a protesting mob clashed violently with British regulars, resulting in the death of five Bostonians. Although most historians actually blame the rock-throwing mob but Americans quickly dubbed it a massacre. -
Tea Act
In 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act, granting the financially troubled British East India Company a monopoly on tea exported to the American colonies. This act angered colonists even further: although the new monopoly meant cheaper tea, many Americans believed that Britain was trying to trick them into accepting the hated tax. -
Boston Tea Party
After the Tea Act was passed, many colonists would cancel their orders or refuse to pay but Governor Thomas Hutchinson chose to uphold the law and had three ships deliver their load and the appropriate payment be paid. This outraged citizens. This policy prompted about sixty men, including some members of the Sons of Liberty, to board the ships on the night of December 16, 1 773 (disguised as Native Americans) and dump the tea chests into the water. -
The First Continental Congress
In response to the Intolerable Acts, delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies (Georgia chose not to attend) met at the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia in the autumn of 1774 to discuss a course of action. Although rebellion against the Crown was at this point still far from certain, leaders believed grievances had to be redressed to Parliament and King George III. The delegates met for nearly two months and concluded with a written Declaration of Rights and requests to Parliament
