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Navigation Acts
Laws passed by England to maintain control over colonial trade.
The acts made colonists buy English goods and limited trade with other countries. -
Treaty of Paris of 1763
The document that ended the war between Britain and France over the Ohio River Valley. This treaty ended French power in North America and expanded British territory and increased British debt. -
Proclamation Line of 1763
It was meant to keep the natives and colonists from fighting. It makes the colonists angry because the cannot go west past the Appalachian Mountains. -
Sugar Act of 1764
It required colonists to pay a tax of 6 pence. Most colonists worked around it and didn't pay. The British enforce this tax strictly. Harsh punishments for smugglers. -
Writs of Assistance of 1765
Colonists were smuggling goods. This way they could not be taxed by the British. In 1765 the Writs of Assistance was passed by the British, these were search warrants. This made it legal for British soldiers to search any property looking for goods. -
Stamp Act of 1765
They need to find something every colonist uses. This required all colonists to purchase stamps, and stamp marks, from England on every piece of legal paper and other printed papers. -
Quartering Acts of 1765
British want to make sure colonists are doing what they are told, so they are sending over 10,000 British troops to the colonies. This act requires all colonists to house British soldiers and provide them with supplies. This is not optional and you must take them if they are at your door. -
Stamp Act Congress
Petitioned the king and boycott of British goods. Sons of Liberty were lawyers, merchants, and craftspeople. They staged many protests of the Stamp Act. They burned all paper they could find, used fear to get their message out, printed a lot of propaganda, often attacked customs of officials by tar and feathering, and also had stuffed British scarecrows hanging around the cities. -
Townshend Acts of 1767
The King finance minister, Charles Townshend, had a plan to raise revenue in the colonies. He believed taxing goods before they got into the colonies would make the colonies less angry. There was no more meetings, or assemblies, in New York until every troop is housed by New Yorkers. They use Writs of Assistance to search for goods that were smuggled in without tax. -
Boston Massacre of 1770
Sons of Liberty boarded the liberty and chased a British tax collector out of Boston. On the evening of March 5th, a single British guard was protecting a British customs location. -
Coercive Acts of 1774
The four laws included in the Coercive Acts were to shut down the port of Boston, Parliament forbade meetings more than once a year without the governers permission, Parliament allowed customs officers and other officials -
First Continental Congress of 1774
Voted to ban all trade with Britain until Intolerable Acts were repealed. Called on building militia for the colonies. Battle on Lexington and Concord occurs. -
Battles of Lexington and Concord.
700 British troops reached Lexington. British soldiers then go to Concord, MA, the same day. When the British make it to Concord, they destroy military supplies without much of a fight. 70 colonists is now turned to 4,000 minutemen. They slaughtered British on their march/sprint back to Boston. -
Second Continental Congress of 1775
Agreed to make official army. The general is George Washington, and authorized printing of money to pay soldiers. Petition King George III for peace in an attempt to avoid war. -
Battle of Bunker Hill of 1775
Alarmed British attack with 2,200 soldiers. Colonist Colonel William Prescott ordered minutemen/ "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!" Loss was certain because Colonists didn't have much ammo and there was no way to fight long battle. British eventually win, but not without terrible losses. The inexperienced colonial militia had held its own against the world's most powerful army -
Olive Branch Petition of 1775
Olives historically symbolize peace. After Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill, some Patriot leaders still considered themselves as subjects of the king. They blamed the King and Parliament for what was happening but wanted to avoid war. Asks to restore harmony between the colonists and England. King rejects the petition and Instead sets out to "master" the colonies. -
Declaration of Independence of 1776