Beginnings of RevolutionThe Struggle for Independence

Navigation Acts

• Date - 1660-1663• What the Act Did:• All goods shipped to and from the colonies had

to be carried by British ships• The British were trying to restrict trading and

shipping• Colonist Reaction - Colonists mainly

ignored them and “followed them” • British Action - The British Act was obeyed

so no action had to be taken

Proclamation of 1763

• Date - Issued October 7, 1763 by King George III

• What the Act Did - Followed the end of the French and Indian War and forbade all settlers from settling to the west of the Appalachian mountains• The British were trying to

stabilize their colonies in one area

• Colonist Reaction - Colonists moved anyways and ignored the law

• British Action – little to no enforcement of the Proclamation

Sugar Act

• Date - Passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on April 5, 1764

• What the Act Did - This act taxed sugar, molasses, coffee, wine, silk, and indigo; couldn't import foreign rum or wine

• Colonist Reaction - Colonists refused to pay the tax and would smuggle the items into the country and use them

• British Action - The British tried to enforce it and hoped the tax would be collected but it usually was not

Quartering Act

• Date - Issued in 1765 • What the Act Did - Required all colonists to

feed and shelter British troops• Colonist Reaction - Northern colonies

protested over troops stationed in port cities and resisted the act

• British Action - The Quartering Act was eliminated in 1770 because of resistance but was then reinstated in 1774

Stamp Act

• Date - Instated in 1765• What the Act Did - The act required that all

printed documents carry tax stamps (ex: newspapers, legal papers, playing cards)

• Colonist Reaction - The colonists protested and boycotted British goods; the Sons of Liberty (group of American Patriots) formed

• British Action - The British repealed the Act in 1766  because boycotts were hurting British trade

Declaratory Act

• Date - Instated in 1766• What the Act Did - Stated that Parliament

had the same authority over the colonies as it did to Great Britain – including the right to tax the colonies and make laws

• Colonist Reaction - Colonists were outraged and upset because they thought this was just the first of more imposing acts

• British Action – Continued to make laws and tax the colonists

Townshend Acts

• Date - A series of Acts placed on the colonists in 1767

• What the Act Did - These taxed wine, tea, paper, glass, lead and paint

• Colonist Reaction - The colonists formed non-importation associations; some colonists boycotted English luxury goods

• British Action - The British reacted by repealing all taxes except the one on tea in 1770

Tea Act

• Date - Put in place in 1773• What the Act Did - The Tea Act gave the

British East India Company the ability to ship tea straight to the colonies; it cut the price of tea, but was still taxed

• Colonist Reaction - This act inspired to Boston Tea Party, Edenton Tea Party and others

• British Action - The colonist reaction led to the establishment of the Intolerable Acts

Coercive (Intolerable) Acts

• Date - Established in 1774• What the Acts Did - These Acts closed the port

of Boston until the tea was paid for; reinstated Quartering Act; appointed a new royal governor; and placed the entire Massachusetts colony under military control

• Colonist Reaction - Colonists reacted by sending help to Boston in the form of food and goods; 1st Continental refused to obey the Acts and trade

• British Action - The British responded by ordering the Massachusetts governor to enforce Acts using necessary force

ULTIMATELY led to WAR