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French and Indian War
The British colonies wanted to explore west, into the French Claim, but the French didn’t want that. The French got help from the Indians and together, they fought against the British. The British had the man power and the money that helped them win the war and the French land. -
Stamp Act
The British government went into debt after they provided defense for the colonies during the French and Indian War, but that cost them greatly. Britain then imposed the Stamp Act, which was a tax on paper so that the colonists could pay back the war debt. -
Quartering Act
The act required the colonists to provide housing and food for the soldiers if they needed it. -
Sugar Act
Britain places new taxes on sugar, wine, coffee, and others, angering the colonists even more. They also stoped trade that was happening with the colonists and other countries. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts put a tax on china, glass, lead, paint, paper and tea imported to the colonies to help pay back the British debt from the French and Indian War. -
Boston Massacre
There was a disagreement between the Boston colonist and the British soldiers that led to what us known as the Boston Massacre. The colonists gathered around the soldiers and started throwing things at them, the soldiers fired back. There was three killed and two injured. -
Boston Tea Party
Britain repealed most of the Townshend legislation, but they left the tax on tea. The colonists still weren’t happy, so a group of them got together, went on three ships, and dumped 92,000 lbs. of tea into the Boston Harbor as an act of rebellion. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were four laws that were passed by British parliament after the Boston Tea Party. It shut down the harbor until there was restitution for destroying the tea, it put more British control on the colonies with more protection for the British officials, and it brought back the law that made colonists provide food and housing for the British troops. -
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was made up of 12 delegates from the 13 colonies, other then Georgia. They met to discuss the current issues going on for the colonists and they created the Declaration of Rights, affirming its loyalty to the British Crown but disputing the British Parliament’s right to tax them. They also created the Articles of Association, which told the colonies to stop importing goods from the British. -
Lexington & Concord
The British troops went to Lexington in hope to take the colonists’ weapons, but when they got there, there were minutemen ready to fight. Shots rang and the British won. They continued to Concord in hopes to find weapons, but they were already relocated. This time there were hundreds of minutemen and when they came upon the soldiers, the British fired. The British were making their way back to Boston, but on the way, the minutemen surrounded them causing the British to retreat. -
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress created the continental army and put George Washington as general. The congress also sent an Olive Branch Petition to the king in hope for a peaceful resolution, but he ignored it. Then they created the Declaration of Independence and declared independence from Britain. -
Bunker Hill
The minutemen were at the top of bunker hill when the British got there. The British launched a frontal attack and the colonists shot back. They kept shooting until they ran out of ammo and retreated. The British claimed victory, and the colonists claimed victory.