Key Events Leading to the American Revolution

These flashcards cover significant events and concepts leading up to the American Revolution.

Committees of Correspondence

The first attempt by the American Colonies to maintain communication with one another, formed to share information about issues faced in the crisis with England.

Boston Massacre

An event on March 5, 1770, when British soldiers fired into a crowd of colonists, resulting in the death of five colonists and many injuries.

Townshend Acts

Laws passed in 1767 by the British Parliament to raise money for the costs of the French and Indian War, which taxed items imported to the colonies but were later repealed due to colonial protest.

Tea Act

A 1773 law that allowed the East India Company to sell tea in the colonies at a lower price, while maintaining a tax, leading to colonial protests such as the Boston Tea Party.

Boston Tea Party

An act of colonial rebellion on December 16, 1773, where colonists dressed as Mohawk Indians dumped 342 crates of tea into Boston Harbor to protest the Tea Act.

Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts)

A series of punitive laws passed by Parliament in response to the Boston Tea Party, which closed Boston Harbor and limited Massachusetts’ autonomy.

Quartering Act

Part of the Coercive Acts that required colonists to house British soldiers in their homes, exacerbating tensions between colonists and the British.