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Iron Act
The British wanted to have greater control of what was produced than the colonies. This act limited the colonists' ability to produce iron, but allowed it to be shipped to London duty free. All iron had to be labeled with where it came from. Although many colonists igored it, the act did exactly what it was supposed to do, limit colonies iron-making abilities, and allowed Britain to flourish. The act was only repealed after the revolution made it invalid. -
French and Indian War Begins
The French and Indian War was caused by France and Britain both trying to claim American land. British soldiers fought against French soldiers, who had allied with some Native American tribes. Britain prevailed in the end (1763), gaining lots of land in America, and all of what would be Canada. -
Proclamation of 1763
The Royal Proclamation of 1763, issued by King George III, prevented colonists from crossing over the Appalachian Mountains. This was made to keep the colonies organized and establish a better relationship with the Native Americans. The colonists ignored this and crossed over them anyways because they had already started developing farmland there. After that, tension increased between the colonists and the British. -
Sugar Act
The British Government was upset that they were not getting their revenue from taxation on molasses, so they lowered the tax from 6 pents to 3, but enforced it more heavily, hoping to actually gain the money. This greatly angered the colonists, and they ended up using less of taxed items. -
Currency Act
Confusion arose about the worth of money in the colonies, so Britain passed a law stopping any more money from being issued. They tried to regulate the worth of existing money and forced people without any to trade with items. The result was a steep decline in the worth of paper money and vehement protesting from the colonies. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act made it so all official documents must be written on stamped paper, and all the stamps were taxed. This was done to collect additional revenue from the colonies to pay back British war debt. Colonists protested this as "taxation without representation", and was repealed in 1766. -
Quartering Act
Due to problems resulting after the French and Indian War, British soldiers needed homes and supplies. This law required colonists to pay for quartering and provisioning of soldiers. Many colonists even had to keep soldiers in their homes. Colonists felt that this was an invasion of their privacy and that the soldiers were a waste of space and complained. The act eventually expired on March 24, 1767. -
Townshend Acts
(Multiple dates in 1767)
Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer, wanted to punish the colonists' behavior by taxing more British products. This greatly angered the colonists, and they attempted to boycott British goods. -
Boston Massacre
British soldiers stationed in Boston were being verbally and physically threatened by colonists, and shot into the crowd without orders for self defense. A total of five colonists died from the incident. A trial was later held, with John Adams defending the soldiers, and they were declared not guilty. This enraged colonists. -
Tea Act
Britain wanted to reduce the amount of smuggled tea and deal with a surplus of tea in London, so they gave permission to the West Indian Company to ship their tea to North America, and without taxes. Any consignees would be fined. The colonists protested this because they didn't want to support and British company, and they were afraid that any middlemen would go out of business paying the fines as consignees. This led up to the Boston Tea Party. -
Boston Tea Party
Infuriated with Britain, the colonists snuck onto ships containing deliveries of taxed tea and tossed them out into Boston Harbor. This enraged Britain, and they began to crack down. -
Intolerable Acts
(Multiple dates in 1774)
After many previous disputes with colonists, the British Government began to crack down. The first intolerable act closed Boston Harbor until all the tea had been paid for. The second gave British control of Massachusetts. The third allowed governors to move trials to other colonies or even Britain. The fourth reintroduced the Quartering Act. The fifth extended the borders of Quebec. The colonists were incensed and more mad than ever. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
British soldiers heard about a collection of military supplies being kept in Massachusetts, which they decided they needed to capture and destroy. Colonists found out about this plan and moved their supplies elsewhere. They also received more information regarding the attack the night before, and were able to quickly notify (Revere and Dawes) the other colonies. The colonists managed to eventually push back the British soldiers to a tactical withdrawal, and the American Revolution began.