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Writs of Assistance (1760)
In 1760, governor Bernard of Massachusetts authorized the use by revenue officers of writs of assistance. Writs of assistance were documents which served as a general search warrant, allowing customs officials to enter any ship or building that they suspected for any reason might hold smuggled goods. Writs of assistance proved an immediately useful tool in the fight against smuggling, and many buildings and ships were ransacked and seized. -
Proclamation Act of 1763
Set a line at the Appalachian mountains that English colonists were not allowed to pass over.
Response: Colonists disregarded the line and passed over it, infuriating the Indians -
Sugar Act (1764)
Eliminated illegal sugar trade between colonies and other countries- smuggling cases sent to Britain(British crown heard the case, no jury of peers) and placed a duty on sugar. Lowered the existing duty on foreign sugar, molasses.
Response: Colonists were not so much annoyed from an economic stance but rather annoyed with the principle of the British taxing the colonies -
Stamp Act (1765)
A law of the British Parliament in 1765 that exacted revenue from the American colonies by imposing a duty on newspapers and legal and commercial documents. Colonial opposition led to the bill's repeal in 1766 and helped encourage the revolutionary movement against the British Crown -
Quartering Act (1765)
Forced colonists to house and feed the British soldiers in America. Amendment of the mutiny acts. Part of the Townshend Program. Response: Increased tensions between the colonies and Great Britain. -
Stamp Act Congress (1765)
Also known as the First Congress of the American Colonies, was a meeting held between October 7 and 25, 1765 in New York City, consisting of representatives from some of the British colonies in North America. It was the first gathering of elected representatives from several of the American colonies to devise a unified protest against new British taxation without representation. -
Declaratory Act (1766)
A law of the Parliament of Great Britain, which accompanied the repeal of the Stamp Act of 1765 and the changing and lessening of the Sugar Act of 1764. Enforced England's right to tax the colonies if need be -
Townshend Acts (1767)
Series of acts passed under Charles Townshend. Included Quartering acts, the removal of the New York Assembly and new duties on lead paper paint and tea. Also placed a new board of Customs Commissioner. Response: General acceptance of the Mutiny Acts but refused some taxes and boycotted the new customs commissioner. -
Boston Massacre (1770)
A riot arising from the resentment of Boston colonists toward British troops quartered in the city, in which the troops fired on the mob and killed people -
Tea Act (1773)
Act used to save British East India Company from bankruptcy by allowing a tax free export of tea. Extra tea was sent to the colonies to be sold, undercutting all other tea prices. By buying this tea, Colonies were indirectly agreed to their taxation by parliament. Response: Riots and in one case, the Boston Tea Party. -
Boston Tea Party (1773)
Strike in response to the Tea Act by the sons of liberty. Sons of liberty boarded the ships in Boston Harbor filled with tea and dumped them into the water. Response: Escalated the tensions between British and America and the Coercive Acts. -
Coercive Acts (1774)
Also known as the Intolerable Acts, the Coercive Acts were a series of laws passed to punish colonists for the Boston Tea Party. They allowed for a Roman Catholic Church over the colonies, the threat of imposing one religion over the colonies, and hindered westward expansion. Response: Created more tension between the British and the colonies. -
Quebec Act (1774)
After the French-Indian War it instituted a permanent British Administration replacing the temporary French government and relieving the French of civil law. -
First Continental Congress (1774)
Delegates from 12 of the 13 (all but Georgia) colonies meet in September of 1774, in Carpenters Hall Pennsylvania. Decided to reject Joseph Galloway’s plan of colonial union under Britain, endorsed a statement of grievances, prepared some defense against possible British attack, stopped all trade with Britain and agreed to meet again in the following Spring. Response: Britain had little response. Colonists believed it to be a success and agreed upon the congress meeting again in the Spring. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord (1775)
he first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord in order to seize an arms cache. Paul Revere and other riders sounded the alarm (“The Redcoats are coming!”), and colonial militiamen (also known as “minutemen”) began mobilizing to intercept the Redcoat column. A confrontation on the Lexington town green started off the fighting, and soon the British were hastily retreating under intense fire. -
Second Continental Congress (1775)
Delegates from all 13 colonies meet in summer of 1775. Passed the Olive Branch Petition and the Declaration of Independence. Response: Revolutionary War. -
Olive Branch Petition (1775)
Drafted on July 5, 1775, was a letter to King George III, from members of the Second Continental Congress, which represents the last attempt by the moderate party in North America to avoid a war of independence against Britain -
Declaration of Independence (1776)
Declared the colonies free from Britain and stated grievances of the king. This started the Revolutionary War.
