Taxation Timeline

Navigation Acts

Oct 9, 1651

This act made it so colonist had to transport goods on Britain ships.

Sugar Act

Apr 5, 1764

The Sugar Act reduced the rate of tax on molasses. The Sugar Act also successfully reduced smuggling.

Quartering Act

Mar 24, 1765

This act required colonist to provide shelter, pay, and feed the troops stationed in their colonies.

Stamp Act

Sep 7, 1765

The purpose of the Stamp Act was to recover the money in British government after losing a great amount from the French and Indian War. Taxes were placed on almost all forms of paper.

Declaratory Act

Mar 18, 1766

This act ended the Stamp Act and gave the government the power to make or change laws.

Townshend Act

Jun 29, 1767

This acted taxed imported tea and goods.

Boston Massacre

Mar 5, 1770

The Boston Massacre occurred in Boston where a patriot mob attacked a British loyalist. 5 colonists were shot which led to a trial involving John Adams.

Tea Act

Apr 27, 1773

This act forced the colonists to only buy from this one company and because they could only buy from that company, the company added taxes which they had to pay. This is where the famous quote “taxation without representation” came from.

Boston Tea Party

Dec 16, 1773

This occurred when a group of men disguised as Indians, boarded British ships, and dumped tea into the harbor. They dumped 342 chests of tea.

Intolerable Acts

Mar 31, 1774

Laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest in reaction to changes in taxation by the British Government.