Road to Revolution

Sugar Act

Apr 5, 1764

• Indirect tax (out of sight - out of mind)
• Duties on molasses and sugar

Stamp Act

Oct 7, 1765

• on all paper products
• Official stamp/seal on all paper items (proof tax was paid)
• Purchased only with valuable silver coins
• If didn’t purchase - fined or jailed
• Direct Tax

Declaratory Act

1766

• Parliament declares it has power to make laws for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever”
• Parliament passes this to save face

Townshend Acts

1767

• Taxes on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea
• Searched for smuggled goods
• Sons of liberty start to do violent acts

Boston Massacre

Mar 5, 1770

• Caused by The Townshend Acts
• Resulted in 5 Bostonian's getting killed by British soldiers

Tea Act

May 10, 1773

• Passed in 1773 and allowed British East India Company (BEIC) to sell tea directly to colonists
• Lower prices than colonist merchant prices
• Tax Tea cheaper than smuggled tea
• Less smuggling - more tax money

Boston Tea Party

Dec 16, 1773

• Members of Sons of Liberty dump over 340 chests of tea into Boston Harbor.
• Caused problems for loyalists / Tories.

Quartering Act

1774

• Quartering Act required colonists to house soldiers

Intolerable Acts

1774

Passed to punish Boston for Tea Party
Boston Harbor Closed until tea was paid for
- Massachusetts Charter cancelled
- Quartering Act required colonists to house soldiers
- “If a soldier comes knocking at the door…. you’re sleeping on the floor
- General Thomas Gage became new governor of M

First Continental Congress meets

Sep 5, 1774

• All colonies but Georgia have representatives
• Voted to send a "statement of grievances"
• Voted to Boycott all British Trade
• Patrick Henry - VA rep. urged the colonists to unite against Britain

Thousands of Redcoats in Boston

Apr 1, 1775

• General Gage brings thousands of British soldiers to Boston with more on the way.

Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

Apr 18, 1775

• Paul Revere rides to warn the Sons of Liberty in Lexington and Concord that "the British are coming... the British are coming.."

Battles of Lexington & Concord

Apr 19, 1775

The Battle of Lexington -
- The first battle of the American Revolutionary War.
- "shot heard round the world" -Ralph Waldo Emerson
- British Victory
The Battle of Concord -
- Americans stop British and force them to retreat back to Boston
- American Victory

Capture of Fort Ticonderoga

May 10, 1775

• Benedict Arnold & Ethan Allen capture the fort
• Get all supplies in the fort including cannons
• American Victory

The Second Continental Congress Meets

May 10, 1775

-They started to print their own money
-Set up post offices
-They chose George Washington to lead the Continental Army
-Sent Olive Branch asking King to protect their rights
- King hires 30,000 Hessian Soldiers in response

Battle of Bunker Hill

Jun 16, 1775

• Fought on Breed's Hill
• "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" - William Prescott -British Victory (Americans ran out of ammunition) British learn defeating Americans would NOT be easy.

Washington arrives on the outskirts of Boston with Continental troops

Jul 15, 1775

• Realizes men are disorganized & need discipline
• Need weapons

"Common Sense" published by Thomas Paine

Jan 10, 1776

• Pamphlet inspires more colonists to become patriots
• "Every thing that is right or reasonable pleads for separation. The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature cries, "TIS TIME TO PART" -Thomas Paine, Common Sense

British Surrender Boston

Mar 17, 1776

• Washington believes his army is ready & weapons arrive
• Washington puts cannons on Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston -British retreat - American Victory

Second Continental Congress meet again

Jun 15, 1776

• Debate on declaring independence

- Thomas Jefferson is the primary author of the document

Second Continental Congress votes for Independence

Jul 2, 1776

• All 13 colonies vote YES on declaring independence

The Declaration of Independence is signed!

Jul 4, 1776