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Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 made it so the no one, from the 13 colonies, was allowed to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. The colonist didn't appreciate it and regarded the new policy as an infringement of their basic rights. -
The Sugar Act
The sugar act halved the duty on foreign-made molasses. It place duties on certain imports. The colonist were very angrily towards this act. Their major concern was the economic consequences. -
The Quartering act
This act made it so that the government of the American colonies were to provide the British soldiers with any accommodations or housing. It also required colonist to provide food for any British soldiers in the area. The colonist reacted negatively and it rooted too issues. Colonist preferred militia units rather than armies and the cost of the armies was too high. -
Stamp Act
It required colonist to purchase special stamped paper for every legal document, license, newspaper, pamphlet, and almanac. It imposed special "stamp duties" on packages of playing cars and dice. When the stamp act reached the colonist, they united in their defiance. Boston shopkeepers, artisans, and laborers organized a secret resistance group the Sons Of Liberty. -
Repeal of Stamp Act
After four months of widespread protest the British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act. -
Townshend Act
Indirect taxes or duties levied on imported materials - glass, lead, paint, and paper as they came into the colonies from Britain. They reacted with rage and well-organized resistance. Educated Americans spoke out against the Townshend Acts, protesting "taxation without representation." -
Boston Massacre
A British attack on defenseless citizens. The colonist were outraged and saw this as a vicious attack on unarmed civilians. -
Tea Act
Granted the right to sell tea to colonies free of the taxes that colonial tea sellers had to pay. The colonist didn't accept this and their resistance lead to the Boston Tea Party. The colonist boarded East India Company ships and dumped their tea overboard. -
Intolerable Acts
This is a law that shut down the Boston Harbor because the colonist refused to pay for the tea. The Act drove colonist to call the First Continental Congress and Band together to form a collective resistance against British oppression. -
Second Continental Congress
This was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in the summer of 1775. It managed the colonial war effort and moved towards independence. The Olive Branch Petition was a petition urging a return to "the former harmony" between Britain and the colonies. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The British defeated the Americans, but the inexperienced colonial forces inflicted significant casualties to the British. This provided a confidence boost for them. Most of the fighting was on Breed's Hill. The confidence in the colonial forces also boosted the confidence in the colonist. -
Lexington and Concord
The first military engagement of the American Revolutionary War. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the kingdom of Great Britain and the thirteen colonies. -
Common Sense
A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine advocating independence from Great Britain to people from the 13 colonies. Once the colonist read the pamphlet they favored independence even more. -
Virginia Declaration of Rights
This is a document drafted in 1776 to proclaim the inherent rights of men, including the right to reform or abolish "inadequate" government. -
The Virginia Constitution
It is the document that defines and limits the powers of the state government and the basic rights of the citizens of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia.
