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Proclamation of 1763
This proclamation did not allow colonists to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. The British government feared the conflict between colonists and Native Americans would lead into another war. They also could not afford to pay British troops to defend the western lands. Colonists were enraged by this proclamation because they felt they had won the right to settle in the Ohio River Valley after winning the French and Indian War. -
Sugar Act
The British had decided to tax America directly to pay off the debt caused by the French and Indian War. So they ended up passing the Sugar Act and this placed taxes on molasses,sugar, and other goods. This mainly targeted merchants, and they were infuriated. -
Quartering Act
The king wanted to enforce the proclamation and in order to do this, he sent 10,000 soldiers into the colonies. Since the British could not afford to pay for their housing, they passed the Quartering Act. This enforced the colonists to house the British soldiers and give them all needed supplies. -
Stamp Act
The act before, the Sugar Act, only affected the merchants. This time, Britain passed the Stamp Act which would not only target the merchants, but everybody. It made it mandatory for all legal and commercial documents to have an official stamp showing that it had been paid for. Moreover, the stamp needed to be paid in silver coins, which was rare in the colonies. This was when the colonists realized that they were being taxed without their say in it. -
Sons of Liberty
After Britain had been passing acts without the colonists' consent, some colonists formed secret societies to oppose Britain. The most well known group was the Sons of Liberty. Some acts done by the Sons of Liberty include burning any stamped paper and tar and feather British custom officials. This caused many officials to quit their job fearing for their safety. -
Declaratory Act
In 1766, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act because they realzed that it had been a mistake, but then they passed the Declaratory Act. This gave Britain supreme control over the colonies. The colonists were happy of the repeal of the Stamp Act even though they still had the Declaratory Act. This was one of the few acts that did not anger the colonists right away. -
Boston Massacre
Since the day that the British came, there was a lot of resenment against them from the colonists. On the day of March 5, a group of colonists and a group of soldiers started trading insults. The soldiers had been given orders not to fire, but they had no choice but to fire because one of thier soldiers had been knocked out unconscious due to a colonist throwing rocks at them. -
Boston Tea Party
On the day of December 16, a group of patriots disguised as Native Americans took over three ships in the Boston Harbor. They destroyed 342 chests of tea to show Britain how much they disagreed about being taxed without representation. Britain did not repeal the Tea Act and they wanted those who were responsible for the crime to be brought to trial. -
First Continental Congress
The meeting called the First Continental Congress was a meeting in Philidelphia where every delegate form every colony except Gergia came. During the meeting, the delegates talked about what they would do about Britains actions. They decided to ban all trade with Britain until they repealed the Intolerable Acts and to begin training troops just in case. Although Geergia had not sent any delegates, they agreed to be a part of the actions. -
Intolerable Acts
As a response to the Boston Tea Party, Britain gave only the Massachusetts colony the Coercive Acts, ohterwise known as the Intolerable Acts because they were that ridiculous. This was a sign of what would happen to the other colonies if they acted like Massachusetts. Britain ordered that the colony had to pay for what they destroyed. The other colonies immediately gave Massachusetts support by giving them food and money. -
Lexington and Concord
On April 19, about 700 British soldiers reached Lexington and about 70 militamen were there. The British commander commanded that the militamen should drop their weapons, but they refused to do so. No one knows who fired first, but 8 militamen were dead in minutes and the British then went over to Concord. In Concord, there were about 4,000 minutemen and militamen, the arrival of 1,000 soldiers saved the British from complete annihalation. -
Second Continental Congress
On the day of May 10, the Second Continental Congress had begun. They agreed to form the Continental Army, led by George Washington. They had also decided to print more paper money to pay for the troops. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
Militamen had built a fort on Breed's Hill. In response, the British had decided to attack. It took them 3 charges to finally gain control and force the militamen out. Although the Americans had lost, they still had moral victory because they knew that if they had a little more ammunition they would have beat the worlds most powerful army. -
Common Sense
Most Americans still did not want a final break with Britain, but with the release of Common Sense, it convinced many Americans that the break with Britain was necessary. It was an instant hit! It sold more than 100,000 copies in three months. The idea for independence had become popular. -
Declaration of Independence
Most delegates still did not approve of the idea of independence. Still, they made a group to write the Declaration of Independence. They chose Thomas Jefferson to produce it. They chose him because he came from Virginia and he was an amazing writer. On the day of July 4, the congress had agreed to adopt the document that had pronounced America's independence.