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The Sugar Act
This act taxed sugar products, such as molasses, and forced the colonists to pay taxes on goods from the Molasses Act. Introduced Writs of Assistance which allowed the British to search property without warrant. Effects:
- Angers the colonists as they hadn't been paying the tax for a long time
- Boycotts by the colonists on all goods in the act.
- Attacks on British soldiers and tax collectors, including tarring and feathering -
The Stamp Act
This act put a tax on all printed goods and goods that had ink, including newspapers, dice, and playing cards. The tax ranged from an extra cent on a newspaper to ten dollars for a diploma. Effects:
- The Sons and Daughters of Liberty met at the Stamp Act Congress
- They agreed to boycott all goods included in the act
- They also refused to allow any goods included in this act to come off ships into the colonies -
The Townshend Acts
The first thing this act did was repeal the previous Stamp Act. It also put a tax on glass, paint, tea, and other lead-based products. The money gained from this tax was also used to finance the British troops in the colonies. Effects:
- It leads to more boycotts and non-importation agreements
- It also creates a heightened discontent with the British Empire
- Various groups start to protest and rebel against the British -
The Quartering Act
This act requires that the American colonists must house and feed the British troops within the colonies. Effects:
- Attacks on British soldiers
- Protests and rebellions against the soldiers and British
- Anger that the colonists rights were being violated
- It eventually leads to the Boston Massacre -
The Boston Massacre
Colonists in Boston were threatening British soldiers with clubs and other weapons and in self-defense the soldiers fired into the crowd, killing six people. Effects:
- Soldiers are proved innocent in court by John Adams
- Greatly angers the colonists
- Caused Britain to try and control Boston better, placing more troops there -
The Tea Act
This act placed a tax on tea. They made this act because the British East India Co. was in danger of bankruptcy due to poor investments and competition from the Dutch. Effects:
- Infuriates the colonists
- The Sons of Liberty get ready to rebel against it
- The Boston Tea Party comes as the direct result of this act -
The Boston Tea Party
The Sons of Liberty, led by Sam Adams, boarded British ships in the middle of the night and dumped an estimated $1-3 million worth of tea into Boston Harbor. Effects:
- Angers King George III
- Britain sees it as a "threat to British rule"
- The King plans to isolate Boston and use force to keep them in check -
The Intolerable Acts
As a result of the Boston Tea Party, King George III passes these acts in an attempt to stop the colonists resistance to British rule. The acts took away the colonists right to self-government, which they had been practicing for over a century. Effects:
- Widespread anger throughout small towns whose governments had been abolished even though they had done nothing
- Increased troop prescence
- Towns start to reguraly train local militias
- Call for an inter-colonial meeting, 1st Cont. Congress -
Lexington and Concord
Lexington and Concord was an attack coordinated by the British in an attempt to take away the colonists weapons and to arrest the leaders. The colonists spy network allowed the local militias to be informed in time to hide the weapons and to engage the British. Effects:
- 273 British dead, 95 colonists dead
- The British find no weapons
- The British's intentions are no longer a secret to the colonies
- Boosts the morale of the colonists, making them think they can potentially beat the British -
The Second Continental Congress
Response to Lexington and Concord. John Adams pushes for independence and nominate George Washington to lead the colonial army. The colonists send the King the Olive Branch Petition which he sees as a joke and declares the colonies in a state of open rebellion. Effects:
- The colonies start to bond
- Thomas Paine writes "Common Sense" in favor of independence
- John Adams plans to organize a government and to make foregin allies (Fr.)
- The colonies declare their independence from the British