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French and Indian war
also known as “The Seven Year War”. The war was fought primarily between the colonies of Great Britain and New France. -
Albany Plan of Union
representatives from seven of the British North American colonies adopted the plan. The Albany Plan was a proposal introduced by Benjamin Franklin during the Albany congress. -
Pontiac's Rebellion
1763-1766 begins when a confederacy of Native American warriors under Ottawa chief Pontiac attacks the British force at Detroit. -
Proclamation of 1763 (colonist reaction)
George III prohibited all settlement west of the Appalachian mountains without guarantees of security from local Native American nations. The intervention in colonial affairs offended the thirteen colonies claim to the exclusive right to govern lands to their west. -
Sugar Act
the first attempt to finance the defence of the colonies by the British Government. In order to smuggle and to encourage the production of British rum, taxes on molasses were dropped. The Act established a Vice-Admiralty Court. These measures led to widespread protest. -
Currency Act:
parliament passed the Currency Act, effectively assuming control of the colonial currency system. The act prohibited the issue of any new bills and the reissue of existing currency. Parliament favored a "hard currency" system based on the pound sterling. -
Colonist formed Sons of Liberty:
was created by a secret group of American colonist inside the thirteen colonies. The Sons of Liberty were important because they were the rebels who fought against the British and caused the Boston Tea Party. -
Stamp Act
seeking to defray some of the costs of garrisoning the colonies, Parliament required all legal documents, newspapers and pamphlets required to use watermarked, or 'stamped' paper on which a levy was placed -
Quartering Act
colonial assemblies required to pay for supplies to British garrisons. The New York assembly argued that it could not be forced to comply. -
Declaratory Act
parliament finalises the repeal of the Stamp Act, but declares that it has the right to tax colonies. The Declaratory Act was created by the British parliament. The Declaratory Act is important because it is what started us being taxed. -
Townshend Act
duties on tea, glass, lead, paper and paint to help pay for the administration of the colonies, named after Charles Townshend. John Dickinson publishes Letter from a Philadelphian Farmer in protest. Colonial assemblies condemn taxation without representation. -
Boston Massacre
angered by the presence of troops and Britain's colonial policy, a crowd began harassing a group of soldiers guarding the customs house; a soldier was knocked down by a snowball and discharged his musket, sparking a volley into the crowd which kills five civilians. -
Tea Act
in an effort to support the ailing East India Company, Parliament exempted its tea from import duties and allowed the Company to sell its tea directly to the colonies. Americans resented what they saw as an indirect tax subsidising a British company. -
Boston Tea Party
angered by the Tea Acts, American patriots disguised as Mohawk Indians dump £9,000 of East India Company tea into the Boston harbour. -
Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts
May to June, 1774 four measures which stripped Massachusetts of self-government and judicial independence following the Boston Tea Party. The colonies responded with a general boycott of British goods. -
Quebec Act
Act of the British Parliament in 1774 that vested the government of Quebec in a governor and council and preserved the French Civil Code. Both Britain and Canada were involved in the Quebec Act. -
1st Continental Congress
colonial delegates meet to organise opposition to the Intolerable Acts. Peyton Randolph, Patrick Henry, George Washington, and John Adams were all involved in this congress. -
Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death" speech
Patrick Henry from a speech he made to the Second Virginia Convention at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia. -
Battles at Lexington and Concord
first engagements of the Revolutionary War between British troops and the Minutemen, who had been warned of the attack by Paul Revere. The Battles at Lexington and Concord involved the British and an angry militia. -
Second Continental Congress
was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in the spring of 1775 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
the first major battle of the War of Independence. Sir William Howe dislodged William Prescott's forces overlooking Boston at a cost of 1054 British casualties to the Americans' 367. -
Common Sense by Thomas Paine
published anonymously in Philadelphia. “Common Sense” was important was well because it challenged the authority of the British government.
