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Intolerable Acts
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 to the detriment of colonial goods. -
Virginia declaration of rights
A document drafted in 1776 to proclaim the inherent rights of men, including the right to reform or abolish "inadequate" government. It influenced a number of later documents, including the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Bill of Rights -
Common Sense
Common Sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–76 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Written in clear and persuasive prose, Paine marshaled moral and political arguments to encourage common people in the Colonies to fight for egalitarian government -
Declaration of Independence
The formal statement written by Thomas Jefferson declaring the freedom of the thirteen American colonies from Great Britain. -
Articles of Confederation
An agreement among the 13 original states of the United States of America that served as its first constitution -
Shays Rebellion
An armed uprising in Massachusetts, mostly in and around Springfield during 1786 and 1787. American Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays led four thousand rebels in a protest against perceived economic and civil rights injustices.