Year

Event

Description

Effect on Colonies (Economic, Political, Social) - Colonies free from French & Spanish attacks - Free to claim land past Appalachian Mountains - Colonists went up west and developed a new vision of destiny

Effect on England (Economic, Political, Social)

How it led to the American Revolution.

17541763

French and Indian War

- Also known as the 7 years war - Washington is sent to Ohio Valley to keep French away - Includes the Battle of Quebec in 1759 - Ended with Peace Treaty of 1763 - Prohibited settlement in the are beyond the Appalachians, pending other adjustments - Made as a solution to the Indian attacks

- Enlarged imperial domain in North America - Large debt - Contempt for colonists

- British imposed taxes on the colonists to shoulder some of the financial costs - British became irritated by unruly colonial subjects

1763

Proclamation of 1763

- Limited colonists from passing the Appalachians - Enraged colonists, thinking that British made the proclamation to limit the colonists

- British had to resolve the Indian conflicts, because colonists continued to pursue past the Appalachian mountains

- Colonists began displaying complete defiance to the proclamation, leading to further actions of protest - British do not accept colonists disobedience

1764

Sugar Act

- First law ever passed for raising tax revenue - Increased the duty on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies

- Bitter protests from the colonists - Colonists began smuggling sugar

- Forced to reduce the costs substantially after colonists were upset - Grenville claimed that British followed the idea of virtual representation

- Colonists began to resent the British - Start of a tense and hostile relationship between colonies and England - Started the idea of no taxation without representation

Year

Event

Description

Effect on Colonies (Economic, Political, Social) - Extreme protests from Sons and Daughters of Liberty - Began using violent demonstrations, such as effigies and tar and feathering

Effect on England (Economic, Political, Social) - Forced to repeal the act after extreme protests - British could not understand why British must pay for colonists protection - Declaratory Act passed after

How it led to the American Revolution.

1765

Stamp Act

- Made to raise revenue for the new military force in the colonies - Stamps were required on bills for sale and other commercial and legal documents

- After repeal, colonists become more rebellious in order to stop British control

1765

Quartering Act

- Required certain colonies to provide food and quarters for British troops

- Colonies defiantly refused to comply with the Act and voted for only a fraction of supplies called for

- British soldiers sent to colonies in order to provide protection to the colonists

- Colonists angered that they must pay for things they do not want - British angered by colonists refusing the protection it is providing

1766

Declaratory Act

- Reaffirmed Parliaments right to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever.

- Took away basic rights of the colonists, rights of Englishmen

- Established absolute sovereignty over the colonists

- Colonists clearly drew own battle line, making it clear that they wanted sovereignty of their own

Year

Event

Description - Light import duty on glass, white lead, paper, paint, and tea - Indirect customs duty payable at American posts - Used to pay royal judges and governors - Crowd of 60 towns people taunts at a squad of 10 red coats - Troops open fire and killed or wounded 11 citizens, including Crispus Attucks - Put a new tax on tea - Awarded British East India Company complete monopoly due to imminent bankruptcy - About 100 Bostonians, disguised as Indians, smashed open 342 chests of tea and dumped it into the Atlantic Ocean

Effect on Colonies (Economic, Political, Social)

Effect on England (Economic, Political, Social) - Efficient way to pay royal judges and governors in America - Reform long due by Parliament

How it led to the American Revolution. - This led to the London government taking away charters and legislatures of the colonies - Created suspicion among the colonists

1767

Townshend Duties

- Colonists became rebellious after their victory in the repeal of Stamp Act

March 5, 1770

Boston Massacre

- 11 colonists killed or wounded - Mob leader Crispus Attucks killed - Aroused much anger, event used in propaganda

- 2 of the redcoats tried and guilty of manslaughter - Soldiers are branded on the hand and then released

- Colonists extremely upset about the use of violence by the British soldiers - Event makes war very evident

1767

Tea Act

- Legal tax now cheaper than smuggled tea - Colonists enraged, because viewed this as an attempt to trick them into paying for the tea tax

- British East India Company now had complete monopoly over the American tea business - British official and Massachusetts governor Thomas Hutchinson returned to Britain in disgust - British had little alternative to punish the colonists

- Mass demonstrations by the colonists, forcing ships with tea cargo to return to England - Boston Tea Party

Dec. 16, Boston Tea 1773 Party

- Motivated and rallied the colonies - Drove colonies to burn tea leaves, referring to them as a badge of slavery

- Reprisals, bitterness, and escalating conflict - Intolerable Acts - Increased tension between British and the colonies

Year

Event

Description - Series of new acts made to chastise the colonies, Boston in particular - Massacre of American Liberty - Most drastic Boston Port Act, closing the tea-stained harbor

Effect on Colonies (Economic, Political, Social) - Bostons port closed until damages were paid - Chartered rights of colonies swept away - Restrictions on town meetings - New Quartering Act gave power to lodge British soldiers anywhere

Effect on England (Economic, Political, Social)

How it led to the American Revolution.

1774

Coercive/ Intolerable Acts

- Gave more power to the Parliament - Restrict the colonies as punishment

- Colonists angered by British measures of consequences - Greatly limited the colonists, fueling their anger even more - Creation of first Continental Congress

Sept. 5Oct. 26, 1774

First Continental Congress

- Met in Philadelphia to consider ways of redressing colonial grievances - 12/13 colonies sent 50 delegates

- Convention persuaded delegates to create several papers including the Declaration of Rights - Creation of The Association

- The Association resulted in a complete boycott of all British goods

- First congress to discuss actions towards independence - Led to the Second Continental Congress

April 1775

Battles of Lexington and Concord

- British sent troops to Lexington and Concord to seize colonial gunpowder and bad the rebel leaders Sam Adams and John Hancock

- The start of Minute Men who refused to disperse rapidly enough - More of Lexington Massacre - 8 killed, several more wounded

- British pushed on to Concord, where they were forced to retreat by the ready American soldiers - 300 casualties

- First battle leading to war

Year

Event

Description

Effect on Colonies (Economic, Political, Social) - Drafted George Washington as leader of the Continental Army - Not yet defined sentiment for independence - Creates Olive Branch Petition

Effect on England (Economic, Political, Social)

How it led to the American Revolution.

Second May 10, Continental 1775 Congress

- Met in Philadelphia, including Georgia - Drafted new appeals to the British people - Created an army and navy

- British King spurns the appeals and refuses to make amends

- Made British and Americans on the brink of war, despite Congress attempts to restore relationship

1776

Publication of Common Sense

- One of the most influential pamphlets ever written, by Thomas Paine - Sold in total 120,000 copies

- Imputed in colonists the common sense, that the tiny island of British should not be able to control the vast continent of America

- Referred to British as a smaller nation which had no right or power to control the colonists

- Called for independence and introduced republicanism to the colonists - Propaganda for independence

July 4, 1776

Declaration of Independence

- Written by Thomas Jefferson, but centrally made by Richard Henry Lee - Declared independence from Great Britain

- The worlds greatest editorial - Persuaded that independence was necessary - Had a universal impact

- Formally broke colonists away from British rule - Forced British soldiers into war - British pays for mercenaries

- Officially starts the American Revolution War - Colonists have no other choice but to break away from their mother country