-
The French and Indian War was the North American conflict in a larger imperial war between Great Britain and France known as the Seven Years War. The French and Indian War began in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763.
-
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued by King George III on October 7, 1763. It followed the Treaty of Paris, which formally ended the Seven Years' War and transferred French territory in North America to Great Britain.
-
The Sugar Act, was the first tax on the American colonies imposed by the British Parliament. Its purpose was to raise revenue through the colonial customs service and to give customs agents more power and latitude with respect to executing seizures and enforcing customs law.
-
The Stamp Act of 1765 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which imposed a direct tax on the British colonies in America and required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp.
-
The Boston Massacre was a confrontation on March 5, 1770, in which British soldiers shot and killed several people while being harassed by a mob in Boston. The event was heavily publicized by leading Patriots such as Paul Revere and Samuel Adams.
-
The Boston Tea Party gave the colonists the motivation to stand up for their rights and to ultimately risk their lives by going to war for their independence. The Boston Tea Party is also important for its inspiration, not only to Americans but to other rebels against injustice around the world.
-
The Intolerable Acts were punitive 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.
-
British Parliament passes the Boston Port Act, closing the port of Boston and demanding that the city's residents pay for the nearly $1 million worth (in today's money) of tea dumped into Boston Harbor during the Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773.
-
The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies which met in the British American colonies and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolution.
-
By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain. The Declaration summarized the colonists' motivations for seeking independence
