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French and Indian War
The French and Indian war was a war between the British and French for control of the Ohio River Valley. Both countries wanted to expand their empires and eventually started fighting over the area. The British spent a lot of money on supplying troops and supplies to fight overseas. There are no colonies or colonists upset with the fact that the British are helping to beat the French therefore it is a 0 on the Unrest-O-Meter. -
Colonists move west of the Appalachian Mountains
In response to the British winning the 7-year war(French and Indian War) colonists decided to settle westward as they could now expand without French interference. This is a 0 on the Unrest-O-Meter because colonists are not going against any type of rule and are not upset at anyone. -
Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was issued by the British government after the colonists started to expand westward. because the colonists were moving so west they eventually met Native American tribes who fought the colonists for the land. Parliament's compromise was to give the Natives all land west of a line outlining the 13 colonies. This upset the colonists, so they decided to break the rules and crossed the line making the Unrest-O-Meter a 3 as they started to go against British rule. -
Paxton Boys
The Paxton Boys were a group of men in Philadelphia that mistook an innocent group of Native Americans and killed them thinking that they were the group that had been pillaging their village. As tensions started to rise in the colonies due to laws being passed by parliament colonists are starting to become violent hurting people and destroying property. This makes the Unrest-O-Meter has become a 4. -
Currency act
In response to the large amount of expenses the British spent in response to the French and Indian war they imposed the currency act. This act stopped all printing of money from the colonies and retire all money in circulation. The colonists only resented this act not taking any actual action against them in order to stop it. Thai makes the Unrest-O-Mater a 2 -
Sugar Act
This act was also used in order for the British to make more money do to spending so much in the French and Indian war. This acts goal was to make sure all colonist trade of sugar was between Britain and the colonies cutting off all outside additional trade. They did this by increasing enforcement on sugar trade. The colonists could also not find an effective way to fight this act so they just resented it making the Unrest-O-Meter a 2. -
Colonists boycott British goods
In response to the British taxing the colonists without them being represented the colonists started to boycott. They did this by not buying British goods. Because this was a planned boycott and it spread throughout all the colonies this is a 4 on the Unrest-O-Meter. -
Daughters of Liberty
The Daughters of Liberty were a key movement in the boycotting of British goods. As they were the main consumer of tea at the time large quantities of women stopped by and drank British tea greatly helping the movement to stop buying British goods. This is a 5 on the Unrest-O-Meter because it was a large protest against the British across many colonies, and they even had meetings. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was an act passed on the colonists in order to help pay back the funds from the French and Indian war. This act passed a tax on all printed goods such as newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, etc. This caused much unrest in the colonies eventually having the colonists form the Sons of Liberty. It is a 7 on the Unrest-O-Meter because it made a group of people have a similar agenda and start hurting people and destroying property. -
Quartering Act
It was very costly to have to build hosing and feed British soldiers for the crown therefore they passed the Quartering act. This act said all colonists had to provide food and shelter for the troops. This made the colonists very upset as they felt like their rights were being taken however they could not do much about it therefore the Unrest-O-Meter is a 2. -
Sons of Liberty
Starting in the summer of 1765 men of the colonies decided to take matters of the law into their own hands. In response to the stamp act they decided to terrorize the stamp agents and burn the stamps. This essentially stopped all sale of stamps and taxation on them making the British gain very little money. They also attacked and pillaged pro-British rich aristocrats. This is a 5 on the Unrest-O-Meter as they decided to take harmful and violent action in large groups without much leadership. -
Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp act congress was a group of representatives from some of the colonies. The purpose of this congress was to start a unified protest against the British Stamp Act. They did this by petitioning to the king that they should get to tax themselves, but would still be under the kings rule. This is a 7 on the Unrest-O-Meter because while they did have an organized gathering to discuss and try to fix the problems of the Stamp Act there was no violence or harm caused. -
Regulator Movement
The regulator movement started in 1766 but did not end until 1771. This was a movement where an organized group of farmers would be in opposition to the high taxes and tax collectors. They first tried to get some representation in the colonial assemblies, but then they started to resort to violence. This is a 6 on the Unrest-O-Meter because even though it was an organized group that used violence it was a very small section of the colonies where this took place. -
Declaratory Act
After repealing the stamp act Parliament decided o pass this act the same day to keep its power in the colonies. This act gave Britain the complete control to make laws over the Colonies. This act took away all salutary neglect the British gave the colonies in the prior years. This is only a 4 on the Unrest-O-Meer because it did not make many colonists mad as they were so relived that the Stamp Act was repealed. However later down the line it starts to create problems for the Colonists. -
Virginia Resolves
These resoles were in response to the many acts Britain placed on the colonies. They said that the Virginia had the same rights of the people in England such as being taxed by there own government and anyone who disagreed was an enemy of the colonies. this is a 4 on the Unrest-O-Meter as it does not take any action and is only talking about Virginia, but it also gets points as it is circulated throughout all the colonies possibly giving more ideas to people. -
Townshend Duties
The Townshend duties were much like the Stamp Act in the sense that they were there to help make money for Britain. These duties instead taxed things like lead, glass, tea, and paint. Because Britain had seen what the response was to the Stamp Act they were more prepared however the colonies still did not like them getting another petition passed. For these reasons this is a 6 on the Unrest-O-Meter. -
Boston Massacre
Due to the excess amount of troops Britain sent over from the Townshend duties lots of colonists were on edge. Due to the extreme tension between the colonists and the redcoats eventually the soldiers fired on the civilians killing five of them. This is a 5 on the Unrest-O-Meter because it was a violent act against the colonists that made many people angry that started after lots of built up tension and made many New England residents more patriotic. -
Gaspée incident
The Gaspée incident was an act of rebellion from the colonists. The Gaspée was a revenue ship the British used to enforce the navigation acts. The colonists decided to seize and set the boat aflame sinking the boat around the Newport are. This is a 7 on the Unrest-O-Meter because it was a violent and dangerous act of rebellion that was caused by a relatively large organized group of individuals. -
Committees of correspondence
The Committees of Correspondence started in Boston with Samuel Adams and eventually by 1773 had 8 other colonies join in. This group of men appointed by the legislature that represented and helped colonies advance.
This helped to insight unity among the colonies. This is only a 4 on the Unrest-O-Meter because they do not have any malicious intent or even want to revolt, but it is still bringing educated individuals together to talk about problems in the colonies. -
Tea Act
The Tea made it so instead of the tea going the East Indian Company to England to the colonies it could now go straight to the colonies. This did not add any new tax to the colonies, but many colonists found it unfair to the merchants who made money off of tea and was destroying their rights. This once again helped push the mindset that they were not being represented. This is a 4 on the Unrest-O-Meter because all of the colonies were upset, but did not take immediate action. -
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was an organized revolt against the Tea Act from the colonists. In Philadelphia and New York colonists had a plan to make sure the tea boats did not land or have tea leave the ships. On December 16, 1773 50 men in Boston dumped a boat load of tea into the river, and as word of this spread other colonies followed. This is 8 on the Unrest-O-Meter as it was a very large scale operation that spanned all 13 colonies and in doing so cause major damage to Britain's economy. -
Intolerable Acts
These acts were in response to the rebellious actions the colonists had taken. These laws, mainly aimed at Boston, included closing Boston Harbor, Massachusetts went under military rule, British officers could not be accused of a crime in the colonies, and British officers could be housed in colonial homes. In response the colonies got very upset banning together to form the First Continental Congress as well as an increase in boycotts in all 13 colonies gives it a 8 on the Unrest-O-Meter. -
Quebec Act
The Quebec act was an act that extended the French colony Quebec between the Ohio and Mississippi River. While this does not seem very harmful many colonists viewed it as coercion and it helped push them over the edge to start the First Continental congress, and continue the resistance and unrest in the other colonies from the Intolerable Acts. It also led to more boycotting of goods from women. For all these reasons this is also a 8 on the Unrest-O-Meter. -
First Continental Congress
After much anger towards the Intolerable Acts the colonies decided to form the First Continental Congress. Delegates from all thirteen colonies besides Georgia attended this meeting. Here they wrote the Declaration of Rights directly telling the King they were upset. This is a 8 on the Unrest-O-Meter because they are forming a group of well educated group that is talking about everything bad Britain is doing and finding ways to solve them directly against the Crown's will. -
Lexington and Concord
Minute-men were a group of regular people in Massachusetts who were trained in case the British attacked. The British were given orders to arrest Sam Addams and John Hancock, two men warned the minutemen British were coming. When the two groups met shots were exchanged. This is a 9 on the Unrest-O-Meter because it was a well organized group of people who enacted violence about something they wanted to rebel against, and it started more rebellious ideas in may other colonists. -
Declaration of Independence
2 years after the First Continental Congress they decided to break away from Britain and declare independence. The United States of America decided to leave Britain even if it meant going to full on war. They opened all ports to other national, and started new governments independent of the British ones. This is a 10 on the Unrest-O-Meter. They have decided that they hated the British rule so much that they will become a new organized group and will go to war to win their freedom.