1. British Taxation in the American Colonies
September 7, 2016

2. The British need money
As a result of the French and Indian War, the British were left with a massive debt to pay
The British government passed several new tax laws for the American colonists in order to make the money
Unfortunately, the American colonists did not have representation in the British government, so they did not have a vote in these new laws
Many colonists were unhappy that they were paying taxes to make money for war they didn’t want to fight
They were also unhappy they didn’t have a vote in the new laws
This is called taxation without representation

3. Sugar Act
The first of these British taxes was the Sugar Act passed in April 1764
This placed a heavy tariff on the importation of sugar produced on non-British plantations in the Caribbean Islands
This led to widespread protesting in the colonies because most of Britain’s sugar was more expensive than other countries’
Britain was making sure that they made the money on sugar consumed in the colonies, not another country

4. Stamp Act This tax, passed in March 1765, placed a tax on paper
It required ALL newspapers, legal documents, and pamphlets printed in the colonies to use paper produced in Britain
The paper was “stamped” to prove where it was made
This was so unpopular in the colonies that 9 out of the 13 colonies voted to boycott British paper goods
The British government eventually repealed the act in 1766 because the boycott was causing them to lose money

5. The Boston Massacre
In 1768, the British government send soldiers to the American colonies because they were worried about the unrest that was happening
Two years later, in March 1770, a group of colonists began protesting near a group of British soldiers in Boston
One of the soldiers was knocked down as a result of the protest and fired his gun into the crowd of colonists
5 colonists were killed
This caused even more anger among the American colonists against the British

6. Tea Act
In May 1773, the British government passed a law outlawing the sale of any tea in the American colonies unless it came from a British company
This angered colonists since they felt it was unfair and allowed Britain to charge high prices for the tea
Groups of colonists got together to protest and another group met in Boston to decide what to do

7. The Boston Tea Party
In December 1773, American colonists, disguised as Native Americans, climbed onto a British ship and dumped 340 chests (about 92,000 pounds) of British tea into the Boston Harbor
King George III and the British government were livid because this was a massive loss of money for them
They knew they needed to respond swiftly and harshly to this protest

8. Intolerable Acts
In May 1774, the British government passed 4 laws known in the colonies as the Intolerable Acts
These were mainly aimed at the Massachusetts Colony (where Boston is located)
One of the laws closed Boston Harbor until the money for the tea was repaid
British soldiers were also given more freedom to deal with protests by colonists more harshly
They were punishing Massachusetts and the rest of the colonies for the Boston Tea Party

9. First Continental Congress
In September 1774, colonists from almost all American colonies met in Philadelphia to discuss a response to British taxation and other laws
Only Georgia did not send anyone to the congress
The colony was still too new and dependent on Britain
The group wanted the British government to treat the colonists more fairly and to allow them representation in the British government
They sent their list of demands to the King
They decided on a large-scale boycott of all British goods until their demands were met

10. Battle of Lexington
The First Continental Congress had warned the colonies to begin storing weapons and other supplies in preparation for possible conflict with the British soldiers, especially in Massachusetts because of the Intolerable Acts
Once King George III learned about this, he declared the Massachusetts Colony to be in rebellion
British soldiers arrived in Lexington (a town outside of Boston) to search for the supplies
Colonial soldiers, however, had been warned and moved the supplies out of the town
Gunfire erupted between the British and colonists with the colonists eventually retreating

11. Battle of Concord
Colonists gathered in Concord received word of the shots being fired at Lexington
They marched toward Lexington, eventually meeting up with British soldiers heading towards Concord
The British soldiers headed into Concord to search for the missing supplies that had been moved out of Lexington
When they met up with the rest of the colonial military in Concord, a battle erupted with small losses on both sides
The colonists ended up winning the battle after the British retreated

12. Second Continental Congress
After the battles of Lexington and Concord, the Second Continental Congress met in June 1775 to decide on a plan of action
Colonists from 12 of the 13 colonies met in Philadelphia
Georgia did not send a representative when the congress first began meeting
They appointed George Washington as commander of the Continental Army and managed the beginning of the Revolutionary war effort in the colonies