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Jamestown
First British colony on the American continent. -
Virginia House of Burgesses
First legislative assembly in the colonies. -
Mayflower Compact
This was the first governing document of the Plymouth Colony, and it acted as a model for the Constitution -
Bacon's Rebellion
Armed rebellion in which backcountry settlers protested the lack of action by the government to punish Indian attacks. -
Salem Witch Trials
A wave of hysteria hit the Massachusetts colony as the colonists began convicting people of witchcraft. This was likely due to the colonists' need of a scapegoat due to their economic depression and disease. -
Proclamation of 1763
This was a royal proclamation that decreed that the colonists were not to expand West. This was to avoid conflict with the Indians. -
Sugar Act
Lowered taxes on molasses but began to enforce the collection of taxes for sugar products. -
Stamp Act
Ordered the colonists to purchase stamped paper from the British that was to be taxed, and this caused issues with the colonists due to their lack of say in their taxation. -
Quartering Act
Decreed that colonists had to house British troops and allowed troops to house themselves in uninhabited buildings. -
Townshend Acts
Series of British acts that placed taxes on colonial imports. -
Boston Massacre
British soldiers killed five colonists while they were under attack by the colonists. -
Committees of Correspondence
Colonists' means for maintaining communication lines prior to the Revolutionary War. -
Tea Act
The British monopolized the East India Tea Company's tea in the colonies, not to raise revenue from the colonists, but to raise money for the company. -
Boston Tea Party
A group of colonists dressed up as American Indians and dumped British tea into the Boston harbor. -
First Continental Congress
Met in response to the Intolerable Acts, and organized colonial protest to the acts. -
Intolerable Acts
A series of restrictions on the colonists set into effect due to the Boston Tea Party. It further angered the colonists and set the tone for the Revolutionary War. -
Lexington and Concord
The first battle of the Revolutionary War. -
Olive Branch Petition
The colonists' attempt at retaining peace and unity with the British -
Declaration of Independence
This was the document of which the colonists severed their political ties with Britain, and they stated their reasons for doing so.
