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Navigation Acts
Colonists were required to transport goods only on British ships including Sugar, tobacco, indigo, and furs and could only go to England. -
Proclamation
The British produced a boundary marked in the Appalachian Mountains. The line of Proclamation stopped the American Colonists from settling on land that was used by the French from the French and Indian War. -
Writs of Assistance
Legal papers which gave custom officials the right to search any building for any reason. The colonists were outraged because they felt that it violated their rights as English subjects. -
Sugar Act
When the British imposed the Sugar Act it did what it was intended to, to reduce smuggling. It also disrupted the economy of the American colonies by increasing the cost of many imported items, and reducing exports to non-British markets. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was a directed tax on all the colonies, which placed a tax on all printed materials. This was an attempt to raise revenue for Brittan. In response to the Stamp Act the colonists formed the Sons and Daughters of Liberty and protested in the streets. Besides petitions, the colonists took more direct action such as boycotting which took its toll on trades because trade fell off by about 14%. -
Declaratory Act
The Declaratory Act repealed the Stamp Act but also asserted British authority to tax the colonists in “all cases Whatsoever”. The British asserted their authority to tax the colonists whenever they wanted. -
Tea Act
Kept the tax on tea and gave the East India Company a monopoly over the American tea trade. The reason that the British kept the tax on tea was to show the colonists that Britain still had the right to tax them. -
Boston Tea Party
The Colonists organized Committees of Correspondence to go to a ship that was loaded with tea, dressed as Native Americans, to then dump almost 90,000 tea into the Boston Harbor.The Boston Tea Party was staged by the Sons of Liberty which was one of the very rebellious groups in Colonial America. -
Intolerable Acts or Coercive Acts
These acts were meant to punish Boston for the Boston Tea Party and to isolate Boston from the rest of the colonies. It closed Boston harbor until the colonists paid for all the tea they dumped. Following this, it greatly restricted the colonial government. Also, it allowed British commanders to house troops wherever necessary. Allowed British officials accused of crimes to stand trial in England. -
Shot Heard Around the World
Britain stood firm and tension between Britain and the American colonies increased. Colonists knew the war was coming and so prepared for it. The first battle was at lexington and Concord which there was fired the first shot in the revolutionary war.