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French and Indian War
The French and Indian War resulted with Britain defeating France. Because of this, Britain became able to impose taxes on America in order to pay off war debt. The Colonists were not happy about this because they had no say in the taxes that were created. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was not very burdensome in terms of money. However, it limited smuggling by giving the British government power to arrest colonists for it. This angered the colonial governments because it took power away from them. Also, many colonists enjoyed smuggling and the colonial governments were usually not very concerned about this. In this way, the Sugar Act was not good news for the colonists. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act made it necessary for every printed material to have a stamp on it. Stamps may have not been very expensive, but for someone who used paper a lot, the expense added up quickly. The colonists were not happy about this. Some of them formed a group called the Son's of Liberty. They protested the Act and eventually got it repealed in 1766 -
Declaratory Act
The Stamp Act may have been repealed, but the British government had another idea. They created the Declaratory Act soon after the Stamp Act was repealed. This new act basically protected Britain's right to enforce any law they wanted to over America. At first, the colonists did not think much of it because they were still celebrating the end of the Stamp Act. However, as more acts were created, they began to dislike the Declaratory Act. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts gave Britain the power to tax American imports. This, of course, made the colonists angry. Some even saw it as an abuse of power. As a result, many Americans united to boycott British goods. -
Tea Act
The Tea Act was similar to the Sugar Act in that the issue had to do with the principle of the matter. By enforcing a tax on a universal item such as tea made it clear to the colonists that Britain could tax whatever they wanted without American representation. Britain's power fueled many colonist's passion to revolt. -
American Revolutionary War
The colonists were not upset about what the taxes were on, but because they had no representation in the creation of them. This desire to be politically involved led them to revolt. On April 19, 1775, there was a conflict between British soldiers and Massachusetts militia. It became known as the "shot heard round the world" and officially initiated the Revolutionary War.