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Navigation Acts
These were a long series of restrictions and heavy taxing on importing and exporting. They were not often enforced until after the French and Indian War and showed the unspoken "Salutary Neglect" by the British. -
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The Great Awakening
This was revival of faith in the colonies. Many new sects were formed, and people began to take religion more personally. It was the first unifying movement in the American colonies and had a great impact on political and cultural aspects of their lives too. It also sparked challenges to English religion and politics. -
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French and Indian War
Also known as the "Seven Years' War"
It was a war between the British and French due to disputed land claims, control over trade routes, and them being old rivals anyway. Americans learned British war tactics and its weaknesses, but were indirectly blamed for the war and were heavily taxed to repay England's enormous debt, which colonists saw as unjust. -
Albany Plan of Union
Proposed by Benjamin Franklin, it suggested the colonies unite under one semi-autonomous government. This government could make treaties with natives, create a military, and decide on settling new land. It was the first attempt to unite the colonies in politics and was a model for the future government that would form, though it was rejected by the king and the individual colonies at the time. -
Proclamation Line
A line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains by King George III after the French and Indian War, it forbade colonists from settling on the other side of the mountain range. The colonists were angered, since territorial disputes were the main reason they joined the war, and resentment grew for the British Crown. -
Boston Massacre
A skirmish broke out between Patriots and soldiers where at least five were killed. This was used by radicals as a show of British Oppression. -
Boston Tea Party
This was a political protest, and the first organized act of defiance against British rule, by the Sons of Liberty where cargo on ships in the Boston Harbor were thrown overboard, viz. tea from the East India Trading Company, which had been made a monopoly by Parliament. The event led to the shutting down of the habor along with the other Intolerable Acts and an ever growing sense of nationalism. -
First Continental Congress
Representatives for most (except one) of the colonies came together to discuss the impact of the Intolerable Acts, and they were evenly divided on the issue of reuniting with Britain or gaining independence. This led to the Second Continental Congress which decided on splitting from England, and more immediately to form organized boycotts of British goods, another step that unified Americans under a single goal. -
Lexington and Concord
This battle started the Revolutionary War. The British wanted to seize American munitions, but it was poorly executed and the American spy network warned the militia in Lexington, which slowed down the troops long enough for Concord to hide their arms. The British plan was now discovered and the battle was the last push for unifying Americans for war. -
Common Sense
A best seller by Thomas Paine and one of the most influential texts in American history, the pamphlet argued for a split from Britain. By using language the people could understand he persuaded many to renounce their loyalty to the British Crown.