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French and Indian War
The French and Indian War was fought between the French and Indians and the British. It was the "American" Seven Years War and it resulted in the French leaving America and tight tensions between the British and Natives. -
Sugar Act
It was the first law ever that passed to raise tax revenue in the colonies. These taxed enraged the colonists to the point where they started protesting. After the bitter protests from the colonists, the duties were lowered and everything returned to "normal" for w while. -
Declaratory Act
This act reaffirmed Parliament's right to bind the colonies. It defined the constitutional principle and made Parliament in absolute charge of the colonies. The colonists had already drawn their battle line by making it clear that they would do anything possible to secure it. -
Stamp Tax
This tax was put in place to raise money for the new military. It placed taxes on stamped paper and stamps were included on playing cards, pamphlets, newspapers, and marriage licenses. The Stamp act was also used to raise tax revenue in the colonies. -
Quartering Act
Resentment kept burning and this measure took place which required certain colonies to provide food and shelter for the British troops. -
Stamp Act Congress
Twenty-seven delegates from nine of the colonies, met in New York to discuss their grievances about Parliament and asked to repeal legislation. The Stamp Act Congress was largely ignored in England and was hardly known in America. Once the colonies heard about it, it began to bring together leaders from rival colonies to talk. -
Townshend Act
This act was one of the most important of the passed regulations. This was a regulation on the import of glass, white lead, paper, paint, and tea. Unlike the stamp act, the Townshend act was an indirect customs duty payable at American ports. The colonists felt rebellious after their recent victory over the Stamp Act. -
Boston Masacre
A group of townspeople began throwing snowballs and taunting a squad of redcoats because they were angry over the death of an eleven year old boy shot ten days earlier. The troops and enough of the provoking, so the opened fire on the townspeople and killed/wounded eleven people. Two of the redcoats were found guilty of man slaughter, and the other s were only branded on the hand and released. -
Boston Tea Party
Roughly a hundred Boston colonists disguised themselves as Indians and boarded docked ships at the Boston port. They smashed open over 300 boxes of tea and dumped them into the harbor. This event occurred because of the British playing tricks on the colonists into thinking that they were lowering tea prices in the colonies. Tea was a very important symbol for the colonists to rally around and that is why it was such a big deal. -
Quebec Act
This act let some French people in Quebec have rights. The French were guaranteed their Catholic rights and were also allowed to maintain many of their old traditions and customs. In addition, the boundaries of Quebec were extended south all the way to the Ohio River. -
Lexington and Concord
In this battle, British soldiers marched to seize stores of colonial gunpowder. At Lexington, the Minute Men refused to disperse rapidly and shots were fired killing eight Americans. At Concord, they were forced to retreat by the Americans and that is where "the shot round the world" took place. After about three hundred casualties, Britain could say they had a war on their hands.
