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End of the Seven Years War
On February 10, the Treaty of Paris is signed, effectively putting an end to the Seven Years War. The cost in troops and supplies to the British leads to an increase in taxation in all of their colonies -
Proclamation of 1763
Due to the large cost of providing protection to the colonies, King George III declares he will no longer provide protection from Native American peoples and other dangers to Colonists settling west of the Appalachian Mountain Range. This does not line up with the certain rights the Colonists were given, and it causes more hostility between Britain and the 13 Colonies. -
Passing of the Stamp Act
The British goverment puts the Stamp Act into effect, which allows them to tax most forms of paper documents, from newspapers to playing cards. This is the first time there has been direct taxation on the Colonists, and unsurprisingly there is a good deal of unrest from the citizens. -
Quartering Act
The British government imposes the Quartering Act, which requires Colonists to pay for supplies to be used in British garrisons. Colonists argue against it, saying they would not be forced to comply, which lead to an even larger rift between the two factions, especially for British soldiers. -
Virginia Resolution
The Virginia Colony becomes the first to express formal discontent with the Stamp Act earlier that year. This serves to give hope to the rest of the colonies that they might too have the ability to resist unjust British rule. -
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Stamp Act Congress
The majority of the 13 Colonies band together and form the Stamp Act Congress, which declares the Stamp Act unjust in that they had no say in whether or not they were taxed. This leads to more hostility between the British Empire and the Colonies -
Townshend Duties begin
British government passes the Townshend revenue act, which requires Colonists to be taxed for a myriad of British supplies, all the way from tea to lead. Colonists do not respond well to this unfair taxation, and hostilities grow ever larger. -
Occupation of Boston
British troops begin occupying Boston to enforce tax laws and deal with unruly locals. For obvious reasons, this does not sit well with the Colonists, and leads to yet more hostility. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre occurs in the city of Boston in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, leaving 5 dead and another 6 wounded. This is a a huge offence in the eyes of the Colonists, especially since the British tried to play it off as civil unrest and rioting. -
Start of the Committees of Correspondence
A series of committees are formed by Colonists, and are used to better coordinate with other colonies about responses to British rule decisions or other issues. This is the start of an organized resistance to the British. -
Burning of the Gaspee
The British schooner Gaspee, carrying colonist tax revenue, becomes incapacitate in Rhode Island and is destroyed by disgruntled locals in protest of trade regulations and tax laws. In turn, this places even more distrust and scrutiny on Colonists from the British. -
Tea Act
The British allow the East Empire Trading Company to sell tea directly to the Colonists, instead of it being an import duty for Britain. This as seen as unfair tax subsudization by colonists, and later leads to one of the most iconic events of the American Revolution, the Boston Tea Party. -
Boston Tea Party
In response to the Tea Act, a group of Colonists get together and board a British trade vessel, then go on to dump a massive amount of tea into the Boston Harbor. This is one of the galvanizing events that lead to formal resistance against British rule, and was a huge morale boost for existing resistant Colonists. This marks the beginning of the end of British grasp on the 13 Colonies -
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Intolerable Acts
In a response to the Tea Party, Britain passes the Intolerable Acts, a set of measures that effectively prevent Massachussetts from having any independent government or other benefits the Colony used to have. This provokes a powerful response from the rest of the Colonies, with a total boycott of British goods. -
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Continental Congress
A set of officials from all over the Colonies meets to discuss an organized resistance against British rule, and not 6 months later the first shots of the Revolutionary War are fired.