Events Leading to the Revolution

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    French and Indian War

    The French and Indian War was the North American conflict in a larger imperial war between Great Britain and France known as the Seven Years' War.
  • Sugar Act

    Paid by wealth merchants
    1. An indirect tax on sugar and molasses
    2. Has been around since the 1730's but only now was it being enforced
    (This British law charged duties on sugar imported by the colonies. Several other products were also taxed.)
  • Stamp Act

    Paid by all people, wealthy and poor
    1. Direct tax on paper items - newspapers, deeds, law documents, playing cards, cigars.
    (This British law required certain printed materials including newspapers in America be on paper produced in Britain and stamped with a revenue stamp.)
  • Stamp Act Congress

    1. 9 of 13 colonies attend and petition British Parliament to repeal Act
    2. The Parliament and King ignore the petition (A meeting held between October 7 and 25, 1765 in New York City, consisting of representatives from some of the British colonies in North America)
  • Boston Massacre

    1. Colonial Propaganda. 5 colonists' killed...
    2. John Adams defends British soldiers in court, but still an outspoken supporter of independence (A riot in Boston arising from the resentment of Boston colonists toward British troops quartered in the city, in which the troops fired on the mob and killed several persons)
  • Tea Act

    This act basically gave the British East India Company a monopoly on tea trade in the Americas
  • Boston Tea Party

    1. Caused by the Tea Act (raised needed revenue, save British East India Co.)
    2. Event - 343 chests of tea at a cost of $18,000
    3. results in the Coercive Acts (intolerable acts) (Port of Boston closed, No town meetings)
  • 1st Continental Congress

    A meeting of delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies who met from September 5 to October 26, 1774 at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania early in the American Revolution
  • Lexington and Concord

    General Gage sends troops to Concord to seize illegal weapons and "nip the revolution"
  • The Revolution

    The overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed