British Colonies/ American Revolution

French and Indian War

France gave up all its North American territories.

Jamestown 1607

first British colony

salutary neglect

relaxed laws in exchange for loyalty

Proclamation of 1763

restricted colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains

Stamp Act 1764

taxed legal papers, newspapers, pamphlets, and cards

Townshend Duties 1776

import taxes paid on items such as paint, tea, and lead

Boston Massacre 1770

A soldier fired into the crowd, killing five colonists

Boston Tea Party 1773

breaking into Griffin's Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts and dumping 342 chests of tea into the water

Intolerable Acts 1774

Britain closed Boston Harbor, replaced the elected governing board with an appointed one, and increased the powers of the military government

Quartering Act

gave the colonial governor the right to take unoccupied buildings to house British troops

Common Sense by Thomas Paine 1776

47 page pamphlet explaining why it was common sense that the colonists should not remain a colony and declare independence from England

Declaration of Independence 1776

Drafted primarily by Thomas Jefferson, it officially announced the colonists' break from Great Britain.