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French and Indian War
The French and American Indians fought British to get land back. -
The Royal Proclamation of 1763
When they won the French and Indian War, they faced a huge debt because the British had borrowed and spent a lot of money on soldiers and supplies. Also, some settlers moved west because the British government couldn’t easily control those who lived far from the colonies. Because they moved there it caused some problems with the American Indians that lived there, so Britain had to pay for protecting western settlers. They couldn’t do that, so King George issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, wh -
The Sugar Act
King George and Parliament felt like colonists should help pay the debt because Britain had gone to war to protect the colonies, so they put taxes and tariffs on things. The Sugar Act said that colonists must pay a tariff on goods like sugar and molasses. -
The Stamp Act
In 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which placed a tax on every kind of printed material. -
The Stamp Act Congress
Leaders from nine colonies met in New York City to discuss how to resist Britain’s attempts to tax and control them. -
The Townshend Acts
Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, which taxed imported goods like paint, tea, and glass. This caused the colonists to boycott any British imported goods. -
Boston Massacre
One evening, things got out of control in Boston. A crowd gathered during an argument between a British soldier and a colonist.The crowd shouted insults at the troops, and then started throwing rocks, snowballs, and oyster shells at the troops.The British fired into the angry crowd, and killed five colonists. -
The Boston Tea Party
In 1770, Parliament repealed all the taxes in the Townshend Acts, except for the tax on tea. Then in 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act. This didn’t raise the tax on tea, but it got the colonists to buy tea from only one British tea company. The colonists tried protesting again about Parliament’s attempts to control them. So the colonists dressed like Mohawk Indians that night, and they dumped all the tea on the British ships in Boston Harbor into the ocean to show the colonies’ power. -
Coercive Acts/ “Intolerable Acts”
In 1774, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts to punish Boston for the Boston Tea Party. This closed the port of Boston until the colonists paid for all the tea they dumped. They also sent even more British soldiers to Boston and forced the colonists to house and feed them. The Coercive Acts (a.k.a. Intolerable Acts because they were so severe) angered the colonists but also made them more united. Colonial leaders voted to stop all trade with Britain and to create volunteer armies. -
Declaration of Independence
In June 1776, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia where they called a vote for independence. Of course declaring independence won. So they decided to write the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson wrote it with the help of others. He included key political ideas to explain why the colonies wanted freedom.