Before the FI War, the colonies were allowed to grow on their own. After the war—Parliament began passing new laws. – Proclamation of 1763 Most colonists ignored and continued to move to the Ohio River Valley.

King George III issued the Proclamation to keep peace with the Natives. He also kept troops in the colonies for the same reason. – Keeping troops in the colonies was expensive. – In an effort to save money, he passed the Quartering Act Required colonists to quarter/house British soldiers and provide them with supplies.

Britain spent a lot of money on the war and needed to generate some revenue (income) to meet expenses and pay off debt. – 1764, pass the Sugar Act— – This law placed a tax on sugar, molasses, and other products shipped to the colonies. – Colonists are angered for 2 reasons: 1.$$$$ tax 2.Prior to this law, the king and Parliament always asked colonial assemblies to vote on their own taxes---now the colonists have no say in the matter.

To continue generating revenue, in 1765, Parliament and the king pass the Stamp Act— – This law required all legal and commercial documents to carry an official stamp showing that a tax had been paid (diplomas, contracts, wills, marriage licenses). Colonists angered for multiple reasons: 1.$$$ tax 2.Had to be paid in silver coin (rare in colonies) 3. Tax was applied within the colonies and affected almost everyone.

Colonial assemblies began to form and protest these laws. There were many forms of protest: – Petitions drawn up saying only the colonies could tax themselves, not Parliament – Colonial merchants call for a boycott of British goods. – Secret groups formed to protest British polices: Sons of Liberty and Daughters of Liberty

They were a secret society that was formed to oppose British policies. Many were lawyers, merchants and craftspeople—those that were most affected by the Stamp Act. – Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams were members

The boycotts and protesting worked in some ways. Merchants thought their trade with America would be hurt. In 1766,Parliament decided to repeal the Stamp Act. However, to still show their authority over the colonies, Parliament passes the Declaratory Act— – This law said that Parliament had supreme authority to govern the colonies.

After repealing the Stamp Act—Britain still needed $$$. Charles Townshend, the King’s Finance minister, suggests the Townshend Acts— 1.Stopped NY’s legislative assembly until they agreed to quarter British troops. 2.Taxes placed on certain goods brought to the colonies. 3.Writs of assistance—search warrants to enter houses and search for smuggled goods. Colonists felt like this threatened their rights and freedoms.

Samuel Adams, leader of the Boston Sons of Liberty, led the boycott on British goods. – This boycott spread through the colonies Sons of Liberty asked shopkeepers not to sell goods made in Britain. Daughters of Liberty urged colonists to weave their own cloth and use American goods. – Trade with Britain dropped.

In 1768, 1,000 British soldiers arrive in Boston. – Soldiers were paid poorly, and as a result, hired themselves out as workers in the colonies (usually worked for less money than American workers). Colonists disliked this because it took jobs from them

Growing tensions between the colonists and soldiers led to a violent outbreak on March 5, 1770: – Soldiers and young colonists often threw insults at one another (called soldiers “lobsters”, called colonists ”Yankees”). – A violent outbreak in front of the Customs House – Soldiers begin firing—5 colonists killed. Sons of Liberty called the event the Boston Massacre— – It became a tool for anti-British propaganda.

How could this engraving of the Boston Massacre be used as anti-British propaganda in Newspapers?

After the Boston Massacre, Parliament did away with all of the taxes except one on tea. – This satisfied most colonists. Sam Adams wanted to make sure that Colonists continued to work for freedom – He formed Committees of Correspondence— These groups wrote letters to one another about colonial matters and kept the colonies united.

In 1773, Britain passes the Tea Act – This gave a British Company the right to control all trade on tea. This angered colonial merchants and other colonists. Protesting the Tea Act— – In December 1773 a group of colonists dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. This act became known as the Boston Tea Party. – Some colonial leaders offered to pay for the tea if the British would end the Tea Act. Parliament turned down the offer and wanted the people responsible brought to trial.