Events Prior to the American Revolution

By aparrish

  • Sugar Act

    Also known as the Revenue Act, the Sugar act imposed a tax on all sugar, wine, etc so that the colonists would sell to them and buy from them. The British didn't like how the colonists were selling to other areas that weren't controlled by them.

  • Stamp Act

    Tax on all printed paper like letters, newspapers, etc.

  • Quartering Act

    The Quartering Act allowed soldiers to occupy any home if necessary. Will come back again in 1774.

  • Townshend Acts

    4 acts that were put into place by the British government in an attempt to exert authority over the colonies. They were taxes on all imported goods.

  • Boston Massacre

    "Extremely" violent event between colonists and British soldiers. Colonists began to harrass a group of nearby soldiers and began to throw various things at them, including stones. The soldiers reacted with some gunfire, killing 4-5 colonists (including one black man). Paul Revere creates a woodcut implying that the soldiers fired upon unarmed and innocent Bostonians.

  • Tea Act

    Designed to help keep the British East India Company from filing for bankruptcy. A large shipment of tea was sent to the colonists to be sold a low price so that the colonists would purchase the cheap tea and increase the company's revenues. But this tea was much cheaper than the domestic brands and unfortunately, many tea makers within the colonists struggled and/or went out of business.

  • Boston Tea Party

    In order to rebel against the large supply of British tea (that wasn't being shipped back, despite requests that the tea return to England), members of the Sons of Liberty dressed crudely as Native Americans, overtook a ship carrying imported tea and dumped 343 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor.

  • Intolerable Acts

    The Intolerable Acts were a result of the colonists open rebellion against the Tea Act, amongst others. Otherwise known as the Coercive Acts, the Intolerable Acts forced Bostonians to shut down it's port, enacted another Quartering Act, and prohibited any town meetings unless scheduled by the governor.

  • First Continental Congress

    This Day in History: Congress petitions English king to address grievances

  • Lexington and Concord

    First battle of the American Revolution but no one knows who initiated the conflict.