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After the French and Indian war, France was required to give up their land in America, giving it to Britain, who chose to instead of settle the land, reserve it for the Native Americans. -
After the war, Britain had fallen into debt, opting to tax the colonies, starting with the sugar act. The sugar act was a tax on imported sugar, molasses, and other items. -
The stamp act, was a tax that was enacted on most paper documents, requiring the buyer to pay the tax, and then the stamp being placed on the paper to tell that it had been properly taxed. -
These taxation laws taxed a multitude of items, including glass, lead, paper, paint, and tea. These acts also now allowed for Britain to instate a colonial governor that could take private property owned by citizens. This was the straw that broke the camel's back, resulting in many protests by the colonial citizens, eventually leading to the Boston Massacre. -
One of the biggest tea producers in Britain, the British East India Company, was in debt, so Britain had decided to pass the tea act, which forbid any colonial citizen from buying tea from anywhere but the British East India Company. A group known as 'The Sons of Liberty', was fed up and had planned what would be later known as the Boston Tea Party. -
After the Boston Tea Party, Britain was outraged, leading to them passing a series of act targeted at Boston, one of which shut down their port, heavily crippling the city. -
Seeing the British pass the Intolerable Acts, the colonies sent out a message, requesting for delegates from each of the colonies to meet in Pennsylvania in order to discuss what they should do about such liberties being violated. -
The second meeting of the continental congress, and this time around, after the battles of Lexington and Concord, they had begun to consider ideas of independence from Britain, rather than simply moving for representation. -
The first battle between the colonies and Britain, also referred to as the 'Shot Heard Around The World'. Ended in American victory, and fought between British 'redcoat' soldiers, and the local colonial militia. -
A pamphlet recently published by the name of 'Common Sense' was made by Thomas Paine, encouraging ideas of independence from Britain, spreading this idea more thoroughly through the colonies. -
The result of the second continental congress, written by Thomas Jefferson and inspired by the works of John Locke on the topic of natural rights, and written to enforce the idea that these rights are unalienable, and shouldn't be violated. These rights were the right to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The declaration of independence was one of the first events in the official Revolutionary War.