-
The StampAct was enforced by Parliament. It required colonists to purchase special stamps to prove payment of tax on documents and printed items. Also, it was the first tax to directly affect colonists.
-
In May of 1765, Colonist united to defy the Stamp Act by forming a secret resistance group called Sons of Liberty. Then, in October of 1765, merchants in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia agreed to boycot British goods until the Stamp Act was repealed by Parliament in March of 1766.
-
The Townshend Act was named after the leading government minister, Charles Townshend. The Townshend Act taxed goods that were imported into the colony from Britian. Things such as, lead, grass, paint, paper, and the most popular drink among the colonist, tea.
-
British troops killed or wounded five colonists, including Crispus Attucks. The British troops were being taunted outside of the Boston Custom House . It was so bad, that colonial agitators labeled the shooting a massacre.
-
The Colonist organized a new boycott of imported goods and protested "taxation without representation". Then in April of 1770, the Act was repealed.
-
To save the almost bankrupt British East India Company, Lord North devised the Tea Act. The act granted the company the right to sell tea to the colonies free of the taxes colonial tea settlers had to pay. Doing so, colonial tea merchants were shut out.
-
A large group of Boston rebels dressed up as Native Americans and dumped 18,000 pounds of the East India Company's tea into the Boston Harbor off three British ships.
-
The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia and drew up a declaration of colonial rights. The declaration defended the colonies' rights to run their own affairs and stated that if the British used force against the colonies, the colonies should fight back.
-
King George III tightened control over Massachusetts by Parliament troops passing a series of measures that colonist called Intolerable Acts. One law, the Quartering Act, authorized British commanders to house soldiers in vacant homes and other buildings. Also, there was a law that shut down the Boston Harbor.
-
Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott rode their horses to srpead the word that 700 British troops were headed for Concord.
-
The British General Gage ordered troops to march to Concord and Massachusetts to seize colonial weapons. The colonist intercepted the British and battled at Lexington, then at Concord.
-
The Second continental Congress met in Philadelphia and argued whether independence or reconciliation with Great Britian was best for them. While there, the Continental Army appointed George Washington as its comander.
