Causes of the Revolutionary War Colonial Unrest Causes of the Revolutionary War

Proclamation of 1763 When: 1763 What is it: British formally ended all settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains. Who did it effect: Colonial Settlers / Native Americans How did it contribute to the Revolution: It closed off the frontier for expansion. Colonists felt that it deprived them of land for settlement and that they were paying for something that only England wanted.

Sugar Act When: 1764 What is it: Revision of the Molasses Act of 1733 – Reduced tax on Sugar, but NOW it was going to be enforced! Who did it effect: Colonial Merchants How did it contribute to the Revolution: When the British started strictly enforcing the taxes, this eliminated the merchants profits for their illegal trade with the Spanish and French West Indies

Currency Act When: 1764 What is it: Parliament took control of the colonial currency system by abolishing all colonial money (Bills of Credit). Who did it effect: All Colonists / Colonial Merchants How did it contribute to the Revolution: There were no gold or silver mines and currency could only be obtained through trade which was regulated by Great Britain.

Stamp Act When: 1764 What is it:  The Act was created to help cover the cost of maintaining troops in the colonies. All printed materials and commercial documents as well as printed material including, newspapers, pamphlets, bills, legal documents, licenses, almanacs, dice and playing cards, were taxed and had to carry a special stamp.  Who did it effect: All Colonists / Colonial Merchants How did it contribute to the Revolution: It was the first direct tax imposed by Britain on its American colonies. Americans had to pay tax not to their own local legislatures in America, but directly to England The American colonists opposed the Act because they could not pay the tax, and because it violated the new principle of "No taxation without representation."

Quartering Act When: 1765 What is it: Colonist were required to give quarters, food, and transportation to the British soldiers.  Who did it effect: All Colonists / Colonial Merchants How did it contribute to the Revolution: The British forced the colonist to accept it because they were protecting the colonists from the French.  The colonists did not consider the French a threat and did not like the idea of paying for the British protection.

Declaratory Act When: 1766 What is it: Parliament declared that the colonies were under the sole rule of the Crown, and any law made by the colonial legislatures opposing this was null and void. Who did it effect: All Colonists / Colonial Merchants How did it contribute to the Revolution: The colonists believed that were not under the rule of England, but ruled themselves under the colonial legislatures. It took away their perceived right of self-government.

Townshend Act When: 1767 What is it: Taxes on glass, paint, oil, lead, paper, and tea were applied with the design of raising £40,000 a year for the administration of the colonies. Who did it effect: All Colonists / Colonial Merchants How did it contribute to the Revolution: Resurrection of colonial hostilities created by the Stamp Act.

Boston “Massacre” When: 1770 What is it: The Boston Massacre (the killing of five men by British soldiers on March 5, 1770) was the result of  tensions that had been growing  between the colonist and the English troops. Who did it effect: Boston Citizens / All Colonists How did it contribute to the Revolution: The massacre served as anti-British propaganda for Boston radicals and elsewhere heightened American fears of English armies.

Tea Act When: 1773 What is it: 1773 Act that gave a monopoly on tea sales to the East India Company. The Tea Act lowered the price on this East India tea so much that it was way below tea from other suppliers. Who did it effect: All Colonists / Colonial Merchants How did it contribute to the Revolution: American colonists saw this law as yet another means of "taxation without representation" because it meant that they couldn't buy tea from anyone else (including other colonial merchants) without spending a lot more money. Their response was to refuse to unload the tea from the ships. This was the situation in Boston that led to the Boston Tea Party.

Intolerable/Coercive Acts When: 1774 What is it: Britain responded to the Boston Tea Party in 1774 by passing several laws that became known in America as the Intolerable Acts.  One law closed Boston Harbor until Bostonians paid for the destroyed tea.  Another law restricted the activities of the Massachusetts legislature and gave added powers to the post of governor of Massachusetts.  Those powers in effect made him a dictator. Another required that British officials accused of a crime to be tried in British NOT Colonial courts. Who did it effect: All Colonists / Massachusetts Colonists and Merchants How did it contribute to the Revolution: In response to these actions and laws, the colonist banded together to fight back.  Several committees of colonists called for a convention of delegates from the colonies to organize resistance to the Intolerable Acts.  The convention was later to be called the Continental Congress.