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The French and Indian War began in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The war provided Great Britain enormous territorial gains in North America, but disputes over subsequent frontier policy and paying the war's expenses led to colonial discontent, and ultimately to the American Revolution. -
They placed new taxes and took away some freedoms from the colonists including the following: New taxes on imports of paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea. -
The event in Boston helped to unite the colonies against Britain. What started as a minor fight became a turning point in the beginnings of the American Revolution. The Boston Massacre helped spark the colonists' desire for American independence, while the dead rioters became martyrs for liberty. -
The Boston Tea Party was a raid that took place in the Boston Harbor in 1773, during which American colonists dumped shiploads of tea into the water to protest a British tax on tea. This event was important because it fueled the tension that had already begun between Britain and America. -
The Battles of Lexington and Concord signaled the start of the American Revolutionary war on April 19, 1775. The British Army set out from Boston to capture rebel leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock in Lexington as well as to destroy the Americans store of weapons and ammunition in Concord. -
The American patriots were defeated at the Battle of Bunker Hill, but they proved they could hold their own against the superior British Army. The fierce fight confirmed that any reconciliation between England and her American colonies was no longer possible. -
The Declaration of Independence was the formal proclamation that the colonies would now be an independent country separate from Great Britain. "God made all men equal and gave them the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." -
Ended the American Revolution and formally recognized the United States as an independent nation.