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The Townshend Acts were a series of laws passed by the British Parliament between 1767 and 1768 to tax and regulate the American colonies -
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was the North American theater of a global conflict known as the Seven Years' War. It pitted Great Britain and its 13 colonies against France and its North American colonies, with both sides supported by various Indigenous allies. -
Mercantilism was the dominant economic theory in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century, based on the belief that a nation's power depended on accumulating wealth, specifically gold and silver. -
Salutary neglect was the unofficial British policy of leniently enforcing parliamentary laws and trade regulations in the American colonies during the 17th and 18th centuries -
The Stamp Act of 1765 was the first direct, internal tax imposed by the British Parliament on the American colonies -
The Quartering Acts were a series of laws passed by the British Parliament in the 18th century that required American colonies to provide housing, food, and supplies to British soldiers stationed in North America -
The Constitutional Convention, also known as the Philadelphia Convention, was a historic gathering of 55 delegates from 12 states (Rhode Island refused to participate) that took place between May 25 and September 17, 1787 -
The Boston Massacre, which occurred on March 5, 1770, was a deadly confrontation between British soldiers and a crowd of American colonists. It served as a critical turning point that galvanized colonial opposition to British rule. -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, officially ignited the American Revolutionary War. This conflict transformed a "war of words" into an eight-year struggle for independence. -
The Boston Tea Party, which took place on December 16, 1773, was a pivotal act of protest by American colonists against British taxation without representation. -
The Intolerable Acts, known in Great Britain as the Coercive Acts, were a series of five punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 -
Adopted on July 5, 1775, the Olive Branch Petition was the final attempt by the Second Continental Congress to avoid full-scale war with Great Britain -
In early 1776, Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense served as the ideological spark that forced the Second Continental Congress to shift from seeking reconciliation with Britain to demanding full independence. -
The Declaration of Independence is the founding document of the United States, adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. It announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain and remains a global symbol of individual liberty. -
The Annapolis Convention (formally the "Meeting of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government") was a national political convention held from September 11 to 14, 1786, in Annapolis, Maryland. Its primary significance lies in its role as the direct precursor to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 -
Shays' Rebellion (1786–1787) was an armed uprising in Western Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays, a Revolutionary War veteran -
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union served as the first constitution of the United States, in effect from 1781 to 1789. It established a "league of friendship" among the 13 original states, prioritizing state sovereignty over a strong central authority.