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The British Parliament declared that, with the Navigation Act, only English ships would be allowed to deliver goods to England, and that North American colonies could only export their goods to England. It was England's first attempt to keep the lid on America's independence. -
The Intolerable Acts were four security measures enacted by the British Parliament as a means of punishment for colonial defiance. -
The Sugar Act provided for strong customs enforcement of the duties on refined sugar and molasses imported into the colonies from non-British Caribbean sources. -
Decreed on October 7th, 1763, following the French and Indian War, the Proclamation Line prohibited American Colonists from expanding further into the west, due to "hostile Native Americans". -
To help pay for British troops stationed in the colonies during the Seven Years' War, the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act on March 22nd, 1765. A tax was placed on all legal and official papers and publications circulating throughout the colonies. -
The Sons of Liberty was a secret underground society created due to the social and political fallout of the French and Indian War. It was established to undermine the British rule in colonial America. It was also the organization that carried out the Boston Tea Party. -
With the Townshend Act, new duties were placed on imports of glass, lead, paper, tea to the Colonies from Great Britain. The revenue used from these duties would be used to pay for the colonial governors and judges. -
The Boston Tea Party was an incident where 342 chests of tea belonging to the British East India Company were thrown from ships into the Boston Harbour by American Patriots disguised as Mohawk Indians. -
The Boston Massacre was a skirmish between British troops and a crowd in Boston, Massachusetts. -
Appointed by legislatures, groups of the 13 colonies provided colonial leadership and aided intercolonial cooperation. -
The Continental Congress was a body of delegates who spoke and represented for the people of the colony states. The First Continental Congress included Patrick Henry, George Washington, John and Samuel Adams, John Jay, and John Dickinson. -
"Common Sense" was written by Thomas Paine around 1775. It was an essay to persuade the people of the 13 colonies to fight for their independence from Britain. It was kind of like a propaganda. -
Patrick Henry, who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and the first governor of Virginia, made an oral speech in 1775 to the Virginia legislature in which he declared, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" -
Lexington and Concord was the first battle of the American Revolution where Massachusetts colonists defied British authority. They outnumbered and outfought the Redcoats, and embared on a lengthy war to earn their independence. -
The Second Continental Congress assembled in the Pennsylvania State House. The Second Congress included Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, who would later be the one to compose the Declaration of Independence. -
The Declaration of Independence is a document that was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4th, 1776. It announced the separation of the 13 colonies from Great Britain.