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Treaty of Paris
This document ended the French and Indian War. The Treaty of Paris was signed by the representatives of Great Britain and Hanover. The purpose was to end the French and Indian War and separate the land between Spain, France, and Britain. France lost all of it's territory on the mainland of North America. From this, the British gaime Quebec and the Ohio River Valley. Spain then took hold of Louisiana (west of Mississippi) and the port city New Orleans. France only kept modern day Haiti. -
Sugar Act
English Parliament passed new version of the Sugar and Molasses Act (1733). The Sugar Act made colonists pay new tax on molasses from six pence to three pence per gallon. Also this law made foreign goods to be taxed including sugar, coffee, wines, cambric and printed calico. This act, and the Currency Act, set the stage for the revolt at the imposition of the Stamp Act. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. This act required all American colonists to pay taxes on every piece of printed material they purchased (books, papers). The tax money from the colonists was used to defend the American fronteir near the Appalachian Mountains. The colonists viewed the taxing as offensive because it was interpreted as a direct profit for Britain and not for raising money. This was important to the start of the American Revolution. -
Declaratory Act
The Declaratory Act was made by British Parliament, which declared British authority to make and pass laws for the colonies. It enfuriated the colonists because they felt less free and independent. It was made directly after Parliament had repealed the Stamp Act. It was also one of the reasons the colonists declared independence from the overbearing British Empire in 1776. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were passed on June 29, 1767 by the British Parliament. Notably Charles Townshend. These acts were used to gain revenue on taxes put on imports like glass, paper, and tea. There were often protests on English goods, mostly from Boston merchants. The difference with these acts were that the taxes of The Townshend Acts were legal, those of different acts (like the Stamp Act) weren't. -
Boston Massacre
March 5th, 1770 was filled with violence and new ideas. An angry patriot "mob" were throwing stones and snowballs at British soldiers, which caused the nervous Brits to act irrationally. Shots were fired and several colonists were killed. Three on the spot (one of which was Crispus Atttucks, an African American sailor), and two others later died from injuries. The Boston Massacre sparked a fury in the colonists and was one of the events that led to the American Revolution. -
Tea Act
In fact, this law imposed no new taxes. The Tea Act granted the British East India Company Tea a monopoly on tea sales in the American colonies, which meant that American colonists can buy only expensive and taxed British tea. It angered the colonists which eventually led them to take action. This law was the main reason that the Boston Tea Party transpired. -
Boston Tea Party
It was the act in which members of the "Sons of Liberty" made in Boston, Massachusetts as a protest of the Tea Atc (1773). The colonists dressed up like Mohawk Indians and destroyed over 92,000 pounds of British East India Company tea by pouring off the side of 3 ships in the Boston port. This event led to the American Revolution, that why it is symbolic in American history. -
Intolerable Acts
These were a series of laws passed by the British Parliament in the spring of 1774. Two of the acts included were the Boston Port Act (Response to the Boston Tea Party. The British closed the Boston port until the Dutch East India company was repaid) and the Massachusetts Government Act (allowed British government to take over Mass. gov't and limited the colonists to do certain activities). The Intolerable Acts were important because it angered the colonists and led to the American Revolution. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
On April 19, 1775, The Revolutionary War began at Lexington and Concord, two country towns west of Boston. The British army set out of Boston to capture rebel leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock in Lexington and to destroy the Americans' store of weapons and ammunition in Concord. The Battle of Lexington and the Battle of Concord were very small battles but they are very important because it started the American Revolution.
