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Treaty of Paris 1763
The Treaty of Paris in 1763 ended the French and Indian war. Britain was victorious. France lost all of its North American possessions. Spain gained all French lands west of the Mississppi River, New Orleans but lost Florida to England. England got all French lands in Canada, the Great Lakes country, and the Ohio River Valley. -
Creation of the "Writs of Assistance"
The British officials in the colonies called for a crackdown on smuggling. In 1760, governor Bernard of Massachusetts authorized the use by revenue officers of writs of assistance. Writs of assistance were documents which served as a general search warrant, allowing customs officials to enter any ship or building that they suspected for any reason might hold smuggled goods. -
Sugar Act
The Sugar Act was a revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on April 5, 1764. The Sugar Act reduced the rate of tax on molasses from six pence to three pence per gallon. The act also listed more foreign goods to be taxed including sugar. -
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. The money collected by the Stamp Act was to be used to help pay the costs of defending and protecting the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains. -
Declaratory Act
The Declatory Act involved the repeal of the Stamp Act. It banned the colonies from making their own laws. It basically stated that Parlament had the right to unlimited rule of the colonies. The colonists were outraged by this rule, and it caused them to rebel further. -
Boston Massacre
The colonists were enraged at the fact that British soldiers were sent to enforce the townshed acts, and started a riot. In reaction to this, British soldiers fired into the crown and killed five colonists. The men were tried for murder, but were found not guilty. After this incident, emotions ran high, the colonists believed that not even murder could stop the British from emposing the unfair tax laws. -
Tea Act
The Tea Act, passed by Parliament on May 10, 1773, would launch the final spark to the revolutionary movement in Boston. The act was not intended to raise revenue in the American colonies, and in fact imposed no new taxes. It was designed to prop up the East India Company which was floundering financially and burdened with eighteen million pounds of unsold tea. This tea was to be shipped directly to the colonies, and sold at a bargain price -
Boston Tea Party
The colonists were angered about the taxation that England was imposing on them. So the Sons of Liberty, led by John Hancock and Samuel Adams, decided to make a statement. They dressed up as Indians and dumped a large amount of British tea into the Boston Harbor. The king responded by assigning more British troops for enforce his laws. -
Intolerable Acts
As a result of the Boston Tea Party, Parliament decided to pass new laws to penalize Boston. The laws stated that Boston Harbor was closed to everything but British ships, the colonists had to house and feed the troops, British Officials could not be tried in colonial courts, and there was no more self-government in Boston. This led to the First Continental Congressthe congress, who called for a boycott of all British goods. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
The Battle of Lexington and Concordwas the primary battle of the American Revolution. British troops went to Concord to seize weapons from the Sons of Liberty. Paule Revere warned the colonists. An attack in Lexington strted the fighting, and the British ended up retreating. 273 British soldiers died, and 90 colonists died.
