1. Taxation without Representation

2. Sugar Act
French and Indian War cost a lot of money, placing England in debt. To pay the debt England decides that the colonies should have extra taxes.
Parliament passed the Sugar Act in 1764.
As a result the colonists got very angry!

3. Stamp Act Parliament passed the Stamp Act.
The colonists decided to boycott European goods so the Stamp Act was repealed.

4. Townshend Acts In 1767, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts.
Colonists said it was “taxation without representation”
The colonies set up the “committees of correspondence” to exchange letters & ideas about all the things England was doing wrong.

5. War looming
The Tea Act, which placed a tax on tea, cut colonial merchants out of profit.
Dec. 16, 1773 Boston merchants dressed up like Indians boarded 3 English ships & dumped tea into the harbor (15,000 pounds). This event is called the Boston Tea Party.
King George III was angry with this so he passed the Intolerable Acts that shut down the Boston Harbor & quartered soldiers in the colonist’s homes. General Thomas Gage placed Boston under martial

6. War begins
In 1774, delegates from the colonies met in Philadelphia and wrote a “declaration” of colonial rights. This meeting is called the 1st Continental Congress.
Paul Revere (April 18, 1775) warns colonists that British are coming.
The taxes have led to dissatisfaction with British rule, which is leading to war.