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Navigation acts
In October of 1651, the English Parliament passed its Navigation Acts of 1651. These Acts were designed to tighten the government's control over trade between England, its colonies, and the rest of the world.
The colonists ignored the laws that was given. -
Bacon's rebellion
Bacon's Rebellion was an armed rebellion in 1676 by Virginia settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon against the rule of Governor William Berkeley.
The immediate cause of the Rebellion was Governor William Berkeley's recent refusal to retaliate for a series of Indian attacks on frontier settlements.
On October 26th, 1676, Bacon abruptly died of the "Bloodie Flux" and "Lousey Disease" (body lice). It is possible his soldiers burned his contaminated body because it was never found. -
French and Indian war
The French and Indian War, a colonial extension of the Seven Years War that ravaged Europe from 1756 to 1763, was the bloodiest American war in the 18th century.
Not only did the colonists resent being held financially accountable for the war, they discovered that they were competent soldiers. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris of 1783, negotiated between the United States and Great Britain, ended the revolutionary war and recognized American independence.The experience of the French and Indian War did not in many ways bring the British and the Americans closer together. British troops looked down their noses at the colonials. -
Proclamation of 1763
Prohibited all settlement and fur trapping west of the Appalachian Mountains.
Britain passed this law to pacify the Indians and to save them the expense of protecting colonists who settled on the frontier.
The colonists resented the Proclamation. Many defied the Proclamation and moved anyway. -
Sugar act
1764 Act that put a three-cent tax on foreign refined sugar and increased taxes on coffee, indigo, and certain kinds of wine.
The colonists felt that taking away their right to trial by jury was tyranny unjust rule.
The Sugar Act was resented by many of the colonists but did not result in the violent opposition that greeted the Stamp Act. -
Stamp act
The Stamp Act was a direct tax on the colonies which placed a tax on almost all printed materials.
It was attempt to raise revenue for Britain.
Britain had spent a great deal of $$$ protecting the colonists from the French
British paid 26 TIMES the taxes of the colonists. -
Sons of Liberty formed
Was an organization of dissidents that originated in the North American British colonies.
The secret society was formed to protect the rights of the colonists and to take to the streets against the abuses of the British government.
The reaction in the colonies was immediate and intense. The protests were based on legal principles, that only the colonial legislatures had the power to tax residents who had representatives in those legislatures. -
Stamp act congress
Drew up petitions, or letters, to King George III and to Parliament.
These petitions rejected the Stamp Act and asserted that Parliament had no right to tax the colonies.
Besides petitions, the colonists took more direct action.
They called for a boycott of British goods.
British merchants and workers suffered. -
Declaratory act
The Declaratory Act repealed the Stamp Act but also asserted British authority to tax the colonists in “all cases whatsoever”.
The British asserted their authority to tax the colonists whenever they wanted.
The colonists considered this act a victory.
There was no immediate reaction to the Declaratory Act, over which the colonists seemed not to have a consensus. -
Townsend acts
Placed duties taxeson glass, paper, paint, lead, and tea brought into the colonies.
These duties were to be paid in gold or silver only and paid at the port of entry.
This act challenged the colonists basic notions of taxation without representation and liberty. In response, the colonists renewed their boycotts of British goods.
Five colonists killed in a clash with British troops in 1770 known as “The Boston Massacre”. -
Boston massacre
The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a "patriot" mob, throwing snowballs, stones, and sticks, and a squad of British soldiers.
After the Boston Massacre, colonists were largely outraged at what they saw as a vicious attack on unarmed civilians. -
Committees of correspondence
The Committees of Correspondence were formed throughout the colonies as a means of coordinating action against Great Britain.
Many were formed by the legislatures of the respective colonies, others by extra-governmental associations such as the Sons of Liberty in the various colonies.
The British gave the colonists an opportunity to discuss issues and formulate a plan of action should one be needed. -
Tea act
Kept the tax on tea and gave the East India Company a monopoly over the American tea trade.
The British kept the tax on tea to show the colonists it still had the right to tax them.
In response to the Tea Act the colonials organized Committees of Correspondence.
The Boston Tea Party was staged by the Sons of Liberty. -
Boston tea party
An act of defiance toward the British government by American colonists; it took place in 1773, before the Revolutionary War. The government in London had given a British company the right to sell tea directly to the colonies, thereby undercutting American merchants.
Formed the First Continental Congress
First government unity between colonies
Demanded change
Repeal Intolerable acts
Self-government for colonies
Trained colonial militia -
Intolerable acts (aka coercive acts)
These acts were meant to punish Boston for the Boston Tea Party and to isolate Boston from the rest of the colonies.
Closed Boston harbor until the colonists paid for all the tea they dumped.
Greatly restricted colonial government.
Colonists sentIntolerable Acts (1774)
•Colonists sent supplies to aid Boston Boycotted British goods Established the First Continental Congress. -
First continental congress
The first Continental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia, from September 5, to October 26, 1774.
Carpenter's Hall was also the seat of the Pennsylvania Congress.
Before the shots were fired at Lexington and Concord, the colonies made an attempt to settle the concerns and frustrations raised with the Intolerable Acts through debate and discussion. -
Lexington and concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, kicked off the American Revolutionary War (1775-83).
Tensions had been building for many years between residents of the 13 American colonies and the British authorities, particularly in Massachusetts.
The colonists became upset when they heard that British soldiers burned houses and fired upon innocent people.
49 colonists were killed and 29 were wounded. -
Second continental congress
Was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in the summer of 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun.
Reaction to the Coercive Acts, a series of measures imposed by the British government on the colonies in response to their resistance to new taxes. -
Battle of bunker hill
On June 17, 1775, early in the Revolutionary War (1775-83), the British defeated the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill in Massachusetts.
Despite their loss, the inexperienced colonial forces inflicted significant casualties against the enemy, and the battle provided them with an important confidence boost.
In that battle, only around 400 colonist died while there were over 1,00 casualties on the British side.
This battle gave a large confidence boost which then created confidence wit
