Significant Events between the French and Indian War and Battle of Lexington/Concord
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Signing of the Treaty of Paris
This ended the Seven Years War (French and Indian War). The British gained control over the area west of the thirteen colonies to the Mississippi River, and Canada. The Spanish were forced to give up thier claim over Florida. -
Proclamation of 1763
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III whiched followed Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America. This forbade all settlement past a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains.This seperated the British colonies, and the American Indians. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was a three cent tax put on foreign sugar, and increased taxes on certain items like coffee, indigo, and wine. These taxes affected the merchants in the colonies, and the taxes were raised without the colonists knowing. -
Stamp Act
Every document, newspaper, magazine, and pamphlet in the colonies had to have a stamp or British seal on it.This stamp proved that the colonists had payed the tax for these items. The colonists were very upset because they were forced to pay taxes on something which did not have taxes on them for many years. The Sons of Liberty was formed in repsonse to the Stamp Act -
Virginia Resolves
May 29, 1765: At the Virginia House of Burgesses, Patrick Henry speaks out against the Stamp Act among other British regulations imposed on the colony. He declared that only Virginia had the right to tax itself. He also boldly proclaimed that King George III may "lose his head" if the current policies were not revised. The Virginia House of Burgesses also embraced self government. -
British Troops Arrived
People in Boston, Massachusetts opposed the Townshend Acts and as a result Great Britian dispatched troops to Boston. The British Troops arrival made the colonists resent them even more. This event pushed the colonists to be more against the British and its rule. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a pre-revolutionary incident. The British soliders that came over to monitor the colonists fired into a rioting mob, and ended up killing five civilians. This was not an actual massacre, but a small argument between the soliders and the colonists. The colonists threw snowballs at the soliders, and shots were accidental. -
The Tea Act
The Tea Act was a British law (one of the Townshend Acts), that was meant to boost the profits of the British East India Company. The colonists were not allowed to buy tea from any other tea company, and were now being taxed on this tea. The colonists decided to boycott the tea, and this led to the East Indian Company to have tons of tea in its London warehouses. The company was on the verge of bankruptcy. -
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a protest by the American Colonies against the British Government. The colonists boarded three ships that contained tea in it. Some colonists tried to disguise themselves as Mohawk Indians. The ships were Dartmouth, the Eleanor, and the Beaver. When the colonists were on the ship, they threw 342 chests of tea overboard into the Boston Harbor. This amount was equal to 90,000 pounds of tea. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The Battle of Lexington was the start of the Revolutionary War, and the battle is most known for the famous "shot heard 'round the world". The Revolutionary War was fought between Great Britain and the thirteen colonies.
