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End of the French and Indian War
The war ended with the Treaty of Paris, 1763 in which France gave up all of its land in North America. Colonists were "cranky" because they could no longer take land from the Indians and they had to pay for the war dept. -
Sugar Act
This act placed a tax on sugar from the Caribbean and forced colonial smugglers to go to trial in British courts. Colonists did not like this because it took away some of their rights to govern themselves. -
Stamp Act
This Act placed a tax on all printed materials and made a lot of merchants and lawyers angry. Colonists created the Stamp Act Congress and began to boycott British goods. -
Declaratory Act
This act reminded the colonists that Great Britain made the laws and could tax them whenever they wanted to. Colonists were still not happy that this could happen to them -
Townshend Act
This act placed more taxes on items and created a board of customs to stop smuggling. Colonists answered this with more boycotts and then the Boston Massacre happened. -
Tea Act
This Act placed tax exemptions on tea coming in from the East India Tea Company making tea cheaper. Colonists didn't like that Great Britain could tax whatever they wanted so they had the Boston Tea Party as a protest. -
Start of the Revolutionary War
British troops on their way to destroy weapons being
stored by the colonists were met by colonial militia at Lexington, Massachusetts. Someone fired the first shot and the war began.