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End of French and Indian War
The French and Indian Was was ended by the Treaty of Paris which both Britain and France signed on Febuary 10, 1763 though fighting still continued for a few months later. In the end, Britain won the war because the French lost all of their land in North America. Sadly, Britain now has a huge war debt which will lead to taxes. Winning the war caused the colonists to be very happy, because they could now move out
West which will start conflict with Native Americans. -
The Proclamation of 1763
King George III issued The Proclamation of 1763 which stated that the colonists could not move West of the Appalachian Moutains in order to not intrude or start any wars with the Native Americans. This law caused the colonists to be outraged, they finally won the French and Indian War and claimed lots of land but they were not allowed to settle in that land. This did not stop the colonists from moving out West, because the soldiers could not go past the mountains to stop them. -
Sugar Act
On this day Parliament passed the Sugar Act which required colonists to pay a tax on many products such as wine, sugar, and molasses. The colonists were very upset about this as James Otis says, "Taxation without representation is turanny". They felt as if Britain was taxing them as if they were never apart of the home country. This act lead to smuggling as well and whoever was caught would be sent to trial in Britain. -
Stamp Act
Parliament passed this act on this date but it did not go into effect until November. The act made colonists buy an additional stamp for documents such as wills, contracts, newspapers, and even playing cards! The colonists viewed this as very unfair tax and demanded it to be repealed. The colonists burned all the stamps and held a Stam Act Congress in New York City. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act stated that the colonists would have to take British soldiers into their homes and provide them with the resources they need such as food. The colonists were not happy about this act because it was unfair how they had to spend their own money on the British soldiers. Also because of all the British soldiers moving into the colonies the competition for jobs is very tough. -
Townshend Acts
Britain will not tax goods in the colonies but they will tax on imports such as; paper, lead, and glass. This act also started the Writs of Assistance which allowed British officials to search ships. The colonists still viewed this as a tax even if its just on imports, so they decided to boycott and reduce imports of goods into the colonies. -
Boston Massacre
The massacre all started when a crowd of colonists gathered taunting and yelling at the British soldiers because they were stealing jobs in the colonies. It then lead to more violent acts of throwing ice and other objects at the soldiers which lead to back up being called. Now there was two large crowds of colonists and soldiers. Sadly, shots were fired from taking the lives of 5 colonists. An important victim was Crispus Attacks who is known to be the first man killed in the Revolutionary War. -
Tea Act
This act was to benefit the British East India Company allowing them to get a monopoly or control of all tea sales in the colonies and putting a 3 pence tax per pound on the tea. This made the colonists very upset because it put the colonial tea merchants out of buisness and it was still a tax. The Tea Act soon led to the Boston Tea Party. -
Boston Tea Party
A group of colonists called the Sons of Liberty dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded the docks of the British ships and threw all 90,000 pounds or 342 cases of tea overboard into the Boston Harbour. In the 3 hour time frame the Sons of Liberty ruined thousands of dollars of tea in protest of the Tea Act which caused Britain to be outraged. -
Coercive/Intolerable Acts
Three acts that Britain used to punish the colonies. The first act was closing the port of Boston until all the tea was payed for. The second act was moving all trials to Britain so that the colonists who might have commited a crime or not did not have a strong chance of being proven not guilty.
another act was banning all colonist from moving west. The last act was strengthening the 1765 Quartering Act. -
Paul Revere's Ride
The Sons of Liberty find out that the British troops are heading to Concord to seize weapons that minutemen are hiding. The Sons of Liberty must beat the troops to Concord to warn the colonists but Paul Revere is given a special job to warn Sam Adams and John Hancock that the troops are comin, "The Rgulars are coming while shouting!". He is then captured by some soldiers after warning the two men but then escapes and leaves to go fight with minutemen in Lexington. -
Lexington and Concord
The minutemen met the British troops in Lexington refusing to leave. A shot was then fired know as "The shot heard round the world" though no one knows whos side it was fired from. This battle in Lexington was the first of the Revolutionary War. The British troops then moved on to Concord and on the way many British soldiers died from minutemen hiding behind fences and trees.
