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Writs of Assistance
Writs of assistance were documents issued by the courts that allowed holders of these writs to use them as search warrants. Used to investigate property suspected of violating trade regulations, the writs allowed for inspection and did not hold the inspector responsible for any property damage. This kind of search and seizure contributed to political discontent among colonists. -
Royal Proclamation of 1763
A proclamation line drawn that forbade colonial encroachment past the Appalachian Mountains; hoped to mitigate conflict with natives but ended up upsetting colonists who wished to expand further westwards. -
Sugar Act of 1764
Act passed that cracked down on the colonial sugar trade going on between themselves and the French/Spanish West Indies by raising the duty on sugar and lowering it on molasses, damaging colonial sugar trade. Colonists began to worry about the revenue-raising intent of taxation from Parliament. -
Stamp Act of 1765
Act passed by Parliament that imposed a tax on most printed goods. The tax had little real economic effect but caused colonial discontent due to the precedent that it set that the colonies could be taxed without representation. -
Quartering Act
Act passed that required colonists to provide provisions and housing for British soldiers. While colonists had not complained much about housing them before, the fact that they were required to now caused resentment. -
Stamp Act Congress
Meeting held between the 7-25th of October 1765 that was the first meeting of elected representatives from the British colonies. It organized a Declaration of Rights and Grievances on the topic of the Stamp Act. Parliament’s right to impose taxes without consent was denied while parliamentary authority was still accepted. -
Declaratory Act
The Stamp Act ended up being repealed due to colonial boycotts and in response to justify the repeal, this act was passed. The Act states that Parliament has the same authority over the colonists as the citizens in Britain. -
Townshend Acts
Named for the man who proposed the program, this series of acts included more duties on commodities such as paper, paint, lead, and tea. Purpose of the program was to raise revenue, punish New York for defiance of the Quartering Act, to better enforce trade regulations and to, once again, set the precedent that Parliament had the right to tax the colonies. -
Boston Massacre
5 colonists were killed by British sentries after harassment by a crowd of dockworkers caused panic and confusion among the British soldiers. The event was heavily propagandized for the revolutionary cause. -
Tea Act
This act exempted the British East India Company from the tea taxes imposed in the colonies in order to save the company from bankruptcy that would have been caused by its massive surplus of tea product. Once again hurting colonial commerce, the Tea Act angered many colonists. -
Boston Tea Party
A political protest carried out by the Sons of Liberty, colonists disguised as Mohawk braves snuck onto East India Company ships in the Boston Harbor and successfully destroyed an entire shipment of tea. -
Coercive Acts
The Coercive Acts were a program proposed by Lord North in response to the Boston Tea Party. The program was intended to break up colonial unity by punishing Massachusetts. It instead, inadvertently, brought them closer together as they viewed the punishments as further injustices. -
Quebec Act
This act set the rules of governance for the Province of Quebec. Of most notability were the expansion of the province's borders and the restoration of tithes paid to the Catholic Church. Of particular concern to the colonies, the act was viewed as an example of British colonial administration that would strip them of their self-governing assemblies. They also viewed the establishment of Catholicism with great concern as they feared coming under control of the Catholic Church. -
First Continental Congress
Delegates from all of the colonies except Georgia met in Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia to make decisions that would affect colonial matters. Meeting from September 5-October 26, matters discussed included the possibility of a boycott, rights and grievances and petitioned for a redress to their grievances. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The first actual combat of the American Revolutionary War, these military engagements occurred when British soldiers were ordered to sneak into and destroy a powder reserve that the local militias were using to arm themselves. The soldiers were spotted on their way there and engaged by the local militia. The militiamen managed to rout the British regulars. -
Second Continental Congress
This was a second convention of delegates that met shortly after combat had already begun. Meeting between September 5-October 26, this Congress managed the colonial war effort and moved gradually towards independence. -
Olive Branch Petition
This document was adopted by the Second Continental Congress. A petition in a last-ditch attempt to prevent further conflict between the colonies and Britain, it was ignored by the King and the document had little to no effect in the following events. -
Declaration of Independence
A document adopted by the Second Continental Congress, it stated that the Thirteen Colonies now regarded themselves as a sovereign states and did not see themselves under Parliamentary authority anymore. Instead, it decreed the birth of a new nation, the United States of America.
