-
Royal Proclamation
After the Seven Years' War, the British government made the Proclamation of 1763 which denied the colonist to further seek out and buy land to the west. The British did this because it would have been too costly to give protection and roads for the new settlements. The colonist saw this as a betrayal because they earned the land to the west because they fought for the British government in the Seven Years' War. -
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act allowed British troops to stay in the colonists' homes. About 6,000 - 10,000 soldiers were sent to all colonies in North America. They were there to protect them from conflict between them and the Native Americans. The colonist did not like that the soldiers were required to be allowed into their private buildings. This just made the colonists angryier with the British government. -
Stamp Act
In 1765, the Stamp Act was passed. This was a tax on all paper used for anything printed in the colonies. Colonists did not like the Stamp Act because they believed Britain had NO right to tax the colonists without them having a say in it. In August of 1765, there even were Stamp Act Riots that occurred in Boston. -
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were new taxes on the imports of lead, paint, tea, and glass. Officials were sent to the colonies to collect the taxes, and courts were created to prosecute smugglers. With more taxes added, this made the colonists even angrier. They held protests chanting "No taxation without representation". They felt they were getting taxed for no reason and had a lack of representation in the legislative. They also organized boycotts of goods to pressure Parliament to get rid of the acts. -
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre started off with colonists throwing rocks at the British soldiers. The king had asked for 1 favor and that is not to shoot anybody. These orders were disobeyed when one of the soldiers had enough. There was a total of 5 deaths that night. The colonists became enraged. The soldiers were then sent to trial and they were found not guilty. The Boston Massacre increased the amount of anti-British views in the colonist. (didn't like King George lll, British army, and tax policy) -
Tea Act
The Tea Act let the East India Company sell tea directly to the colonies, letting them sell it for a cheaper price with a tax. The colonists in Boston did not like this and took it into their own hands. They got on ships that had tea and dumped 342 crates of tea into the Boston harbor. This was called the Boston Tea Party. The British government was mad and closed the harbor for trade and sent more British troops to Boston. Both sides were very unhappy. -
Lexington & Concord
700 British Army soldiers and march to Concord, where the rebels (Samuel Adams and John Hancock) were reportedly storing lots of arms and ammunition. They were to find the stash and destroy it. The rebels escaped. The next day in Lexington, the British soldiers and rebel militiamen were face to face. We don't know who shot first but they were fired and only one British soldier wounded but eight militiamen were killed. The American Revolutionary War had begun!!
