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French and Indian War
The British declared war on the French over land disputes with the Indians exploiting both sides, and ended with the British winning; thus allowing the British to expand westwards. After winning, the colonists were taxed for the war increasing tension between them and the British, this demonstrates a level 3 of unrest. -
Proclamation Line of 1763
The British decided to reorganize the American empire, and they enforced the Proclamation Line of 1763 stating that the colonists could not settle westward of the Appalachian mountains, this line confined them to the 13 colonies. However, the colonies disregarded this rule as they wanted more land, so this is a level 2 of unrest. -
Colonists Move West of the Appalachian Mountains
The colonists were able to push the proclamation line of 1763 westward, and this allowed settlement past the Appalachian mountains. The British authority tried to limit the colonists, but they continued to settle west gaining lots of land, causing this to be a level 1 of unrest. -
Paxton Boys
The Paxton Boys were a group of colonists from the western frontier, who protested in Philadelphia with demands for less colonial taxes and for money to protect themselves against the Indians as they felt threatened. This was a level 2 of unrest as it was a small scale rebellion against the colonial government. -
Sugar Act
The British placed a high tax on sugar in order to decrease the illegal sugar smuggling between other countries and the colonies, also causing rum to be more expensive. The high cost of this major export made the economy weaken, causing the level of unrest to be level 4. -
Currency Act
The British required the colonial assemblies to stop issuing out paper money, and to remove all current paper money from circulation. If the currency act was disobeyed their were fines and penalties to be paid; The unrest is level 3 because this law was highly impractical for the colonists and the colonial government. -
Stamp Act
The British placed a high tax on almost all forms of printed documents in the colonies, and this was mainly for paying for the war debts of the French and Indian War; the level of unrest is 3 because the tax was very expensive and impractical. -
Quartering Act
The British created a law that forced colonists into allowing British soldiers to seek shelter in their homes. This was a tax in a sense because the owner of the home had to pay for the soldiers expenses, causing this to be a level 4 of unrest. -
Virginia Resolves
The colonists introduced a set of resolutions declaring that Americans had the same rights as the English, and that they should only be taxed by their own representatives. The colonies should only pay taxes that are voted on by the colonial assemblies, causing the level of unrest to be 1. -
Sons of Liberty
A group of colonists who took the law into their own hands in attempt to intimidate loyalists and upset the British government. The sons of liberty would attack the stamp agents and burn the stamps in order to get the British to repeal the stamp act, causing the level of unrest to be 5 because of violence. -
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Stamp Act Congress
The colonists responded to the Stamp act by refusing to pay, and famously stated "no taxation without representation." The reason for this slogan is because the tax was impractical and the British do not give the colonists a voice in parliament; the level of unrest is a level 5 because lots of rebellions occurred. -
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Regulator Movement
Colonial farmers called the regulators opposed the high taxes that were collected, and were underrepresented in the colonial assembly. Eventually due to their grievances being ignored, they armed themselves and began resisting tax collections by force, only to end up being defeated by an army of militiamen. Six regulators were hung showing that this was a pretty large scale rebellion, causing the level of unrest to be 7. -
Declaratory Act
British law that accompanied the repealing of the stamp act which stated that parliament could make laws binding the American colonies "in all cases whatsoever." The level of unrest is 4 because the British are saying they have ultimate authority over the colonists. -
Daughters of Liberty
Similar to the sons of liberty, the daughters of liberty were a colonial group that helped boycott against the British. The most important role that they played was that they would manufacture goods that the colonists were dependent on the British for, the level of unrest is 2 because passive resistance. -
Townshend Duties
The British imposed a tax on imported British goods to the colonies with the purpose of raising revenue for the British empire. The level of unrest is a 2 because the colonists decided to boycott the British goods, and not use them. -
Colonists Boycott British Goods
The colonial merchants agreed upon a non-importation agreement to reject all of the British imports. The colonies boycotted the British goods because of the high taxes put in place by the townshend duties, and America began to become more independent creating their own products; this is a level 2 of unrest because the colonists are simply ignoring the British government in order to gain their attention. -
Boston Massacre
The British government placed four regiments of troops inside the city because they deemed it necessary, and the colonists felt oppressed of their independence. A crowd of liberty boys began to throw rocks and snowballs at the British soldiers, and the British fired their guns killing 5 of them; this is a level 8 unrest because the British had no need to shoot their guns, and they did causing a massive outrage among the colonists. -
Gaspée Incident
A British boat called the Gaspee was looted and burned by the 55 colonists, no arrests were ever made against the colonists which outraged the British; the level of unrest is 6 because the colonists did one of their first real attacks against the British which would lead to more. -
Committees of Correspondence
Colonial committees that expressed their opinions on opposition to British imperial policy, and they discussed with each other to aim for coordination. The level of unrest is 1 because the colonists are only trying to mutually disagree about British policy -
Tea Act
The British imposed the tea act which made colonists revive the phrase "no taxation without representation" because the colonists felt that they were being cheated. In essence, the British gave their East India company on the verge of bankruptcy an unfair advantage that allowed them to take power in the tea trade. Colonists were very upset at this to the point where they stopped drinking tea, so the level of unrest is 4. -
Boston Tea Party
The colonists began to boycott tea because of the tea acts, and colonists disguised themselves aboard onto British ships, breaking open the tea chests, throwing them into the water. This led to more colonists being inspired to follow the example and staged similar acts of resistance; the level of unrest is 5 because the colonists are upset, and rebelling with little violence. -
Intolerable Acts
After the Boston Tea Party, the British wanted to punish the colonies with more control, so they installed the intolerable acts, but this backfired and only further increased the unrest. The unrest of the colonies is 6 because lots of colonists are upset with Britain, and the intolerable acts adds more anger. -
Quebec Act
The British reinstated the French into Quebec causing less land distribution, and increased control over colonial religion. This increased tension among the British and colonists making the level of unrest 5. -
First Continental Congress
The purpose was to work out a unified approach to what the colonists should do about the British. Issued the declaration of colonial rights and grievances of the British, the level of unrest is 6 because of all of the built up tension between the British and colonists. -
Lexington and Concord
The British engaged in the first military engagements of the revolutionary war with the colonists in order to capture military supplies and arrest revolutionaries. The colonists fought back and won, so the level of unrest is 4 because they were attacked, but still won. -
Declaration of Independance
A document written by the colonists that entitles them to inalienable rights such as life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. It also listed all of the complaints the colonies had about Britain, and how they wanted their independence. The level of unrest is 7 because the colonies are tired of everything they have had to go through with Great Britain, and want to separate for their own independence.