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French and Indian War
Britain gains control of the colonies. -
Period: to
Events Leading to the Revolutionary War
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Stamp Act
Britain passes the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act forces colonists to pay taxes to Britain to pay the cost of the French and Indian War. The colonists oppose the Stamp Act. -
Sons of Liberty created
Sons of Liberty organizations are founded in towns across the colonies in order to fight against the stamp agents, often with outright violence. -
The Townshend Act
The Townshend Act is passed. The Townshend Act is another tax placed on the colonists from Britain. -
Britain sends troops
British troops land in Boston to protect British tax collectors from unhappy colonists. -
Boston Massacre
British troops fired into a group of protestors, killing five of them. -
The Tea Act
The Tea Act goes into effect, retaining the import tax on tea and giving the East India Company the ability to undersell colonial merchants. -
The Boston Tea Party
After months of growing frustration with the Tea Act, a group of Boston activists dressed as Mohawk Indians and boarded tea ships anchored in Boston Harbor in order to dump 342 casks of tea into the water. -
The Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts pass in parliament to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party -
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death
Patrick Henry gives his famous "Give me liberty or give me death," speech at the Virginia convention -
First shots are fired
First shots fired at the Battles of Lexington and Concord.