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The French and Indian War
The French and Indian War started in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The French and Indian War began over the specific conflict of whether the upper Ohio River valley was a part of the British Empire. The war gave Great Britain lots of territorial gains in North America, however disputes over "subsequent frontier policy" and paying the war's expenses led to colonial discontent, and eventually to the American Revolution. -
The Proclamation of 1763
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III after Great Britain got French territory in North America after the seven years of the French and Indian War. The Proclamation said that Americans could not settle or buy land west of a line along the Appalachian Mountains. -
The Sugar Act
The Sugar Act, also known as the Plantation Act or Revenue Act, (1764), in U.S. colonial history, British legislation tried to end the smuggling trade in sugar and molasses from the French and Dutch West Indies and providing increased revenues to fund enlarged British Empire responsibilities following the French and Indian War. The Sugar Act was the first tax on the American colonies imposed by the British Parliament. -
Stamp Act of 1766
The Stamp Act of 1765 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that imposed a direct tax on the British colonies in America and required that many printed materials in the colonies must be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp. A majority of the colonists considered it a violation of their rights as Englishmen to be taxed without their consent. -
The Townshend Acts of 1767
The Townshend Acts, named after Charles Townshend, British chancellor of the Exchequer, imposed duties on British china, glass, lead, paint, paper and tea imported to the colonies. However, these policies motivated colonists to take action by boycotting British goods. -
The Boston Massacre
Tensions began to grow, and in Boston in February 1770 a patriot mob attacked a British loyalist, who fired a gun at them, killing a boy. Brawls between colonists and British soldiers eventually culminated in the Boston Massacre. -
The Tea Act
The Tea Act was a law set in place on May 10, 1773 by the British Parliament. This forced the colonists to order tea from one company, trade through that company, and use the company's ships for delivery - all after they had placed a tax on the tea, which the colonists would have to pay. -
The Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that happened on December 16, 1773, at Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts. American colonists, frustrated and angry at Britain for “taxation without representation,” dumped 342 chests of tea into the water, imported by the British East India Company into the harbor. -
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts (passed/Royal assent March 31–June 22, 1774) were laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest in reaction to changes in taxation by the British Government. -
The 1st Continental Congress
Delegates from each of the 13 colonies except for Georgia (which was fighting a Native American uprising and was dependent on the British for military supplies) met in Philadelphia as the First Continental Congress to organize colonial resistance to Parliament's Coercive Acts. The primary accomplishment of the First Continental Congress was a compact among the colonies to boycott British goods beginning on December 1, 1774, unless parliament should rescind the Intolerable Acts.
