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Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was decreed by King George III to a) protect the whites from Indian attacks b) protect the Indians from increasing white man attacks c) stop westward expansion in respect for the Indians. He also decreed that only traders and merchants with a specific license could trade with the Indians. Anyone other than the designated traders could not pass the Appalachian Divide. The colonists protested that--some of them had land on the other side! Source: www.history.com -
The Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was a severe taxation on each gallon of sugar. Three pennies a gallon was a punishment given to the colonists and merchants because they had been smuggling sugar with the West Indies. When the merchants were caught, they pleaded for one penny a gallon, but it was denied. Trading was greatly hindered because of this act. The colonists hated that they were not being represented in Parliament and found it ridiculous to be taxed like that. Source: www.encyclopediabritannica.com -
The Quartering Act
The Quartering Act was passed in 1765. The act made available any space the soldiers decided to use--including the places people lived in. The intent was not to throw out colonists from their homes, but to create a place to say for the English soldiers. Rarely did the soldiers actually remove the colonists from the buildings, but the injustice of being forced to move anytime was enraging. Living in the same area caused fighting and distrust. Source: www.history.com -
The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was a order that commanded colonists to pay a tax on every little bit of paper they used - letters, stamps, and even playing cards. It was the fact that they were being taxed that angered the colonists, it was the fact that they should be treated as English citizens where only their representatives could tax them (not Parliament.) They also protested the idea that they could be taxed to raise money instead of regulating trade. Source: www.colonialwilliamsburg.com -
The Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were created by none other than Charles Townshend. Parliament believed that since they participated in the French and Indian War, the colonists should pay them for that protection. They did this by taxing items that the colonists couldn't make themselves. Tea, lead, paint, china--these are all things the colonists couldn't get on their own. A profit of 40,000 pounds came from this taxation, mostly coming from tea. The colonists hated and protested it. Source: www.history.com -
The Boston Massacre
This happened when a group of "patriots" began to throw rocks at a group of soldiers. The soldiers fired back, killing three men and harming eight. This was a direct lead to the Revolutionary War. The colonists used this incident to rile up the people to fight. Source: www.ushistory.com -
The Boston Tea Party
In the Boston harbor, a group of sixty men led by Samuel Adams through overboard 342 chests of tea worth over $18,000. They did this because of the heavy tea taxes after the Massachusetts governor refused to send the tea back. Because of this obvious stunt, the English enacted the Intolerable Acts. Most colonists supported the rogue patriots. Source www.history.com -
The Intolerable Acts
These acts commanded Massachusetts to be closed to trade. The English leaders weren't allowed to be criminally prosecuted. They could sleep where they wished. These were in retaliation to the Boston Tea Party. Source: www.history.com
