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Taxes and Laws
They began to impose new laws and taxes. They implemented a number of laws including the Sugar Act, Currency Act, Quartering Act, and the Stamp Act. -
Taxes, Laws, and More Taxes
The British government had pretty much left the colonists alone to govern themselves -
Sons of Liberty
A group called the Sons of Liberty formed in 1765 in Boston and soon spread throughout the colonies. -
New tax
The British imposed a new tax on tea. Several patriots in Boston protested this act by boarding ships in Boston harbor and dumping their tea into the water. This protest became known as the Boston Tea Party. -
Intolerable Acts
The British decided that the colonies needed to be punished for the Boston Tea Party. They issued a number of new laws that the colonists called the Intolerable Acts. -
Boston Blockade
One of the Intolerable Acts was the Boston Port Act which shut down the port of Boston for trade. British ships blockaded Boston Harbor, punishing everyone who lived in Boston, both patriots and loyalists. This angered not only people in Boston, but also people in other colonies who were afraid the British would do the same thing to them. -
First Continental Congress
Twelve of the thirteen colonies sent representatives to the First Continental Congress as a direct response to the Intolerable Acts. They sent a petition to King George III to repeal the Intolerable Acts. They never got a response. They also established a boycott of British goods. -
British soldiers
British soldiers in Massachusetts were ordered to disarm the American rebels and to arrest their leaders. -
The Revolutionary War
The Revolutionary War began on April 19,1775 when fighting broke out between the two sides at the Battles of Lexington and Concord.