Revolution Timeline

The French and Indian War was between France and Britain. It started when France expanded into Ohio which brought conflict with the British colonies. Battles began. The war ended with the Treaty of Paris and Britain gaining Canada from France and Florida from Spain. After the war Britain was in debt, because it borrowed from the Dutch. Britain believed the colonists should share the burden and began taxing them. The colonists were used to salutary neglect and believed the taxes were unfair and wrong.

This act was created to help pay for British troops in America. The act required a tax stamp on all printed items. The colonists were apposed to this act, the House of Commons passed it anyways.

These acts were created when William Pitt became ill and left Charles Townshend in command. Townshend was not sympathetic to the colonists like Pitt was. He sought to create a new source of revenue, so he created the Townshend Acts. This placed taxes on imports of paper, lead, paint, glass, and tea. The revenue paid officers that the colonists were already providing for under the quartering act. The act also told the colonists to stop smuggling. It gave the British troops the ability to search buildings and vessels for any reason without a warrant.

The colonists were angry about the Townshend acts and began a boycott of British goods. The Daughters of Liberty was formed, women drunk rye coffee and spun cloth to make up for the British goods they were not receiving. The resistance of America increased the determination of Britain. Britain sent more troops to America.

British troops used the Townshend Acts to inspect a vessel named Liberty. John Hancock, the owner of the ship, was a very wealthy man and made his fortune by smuggling illegal glass, lead, paper, wine, rum, molasses, and tea. When the British official attempted to inspect and seize the vessel riots broke out. The riots were so violent that the British troops were forced to flee. Consequently, more British troops were sent to the colonies to maintain order and boycotts were began once again.

In Boston British troops made up 10% of the population. The colonists did not like the presents of these troops. One night 9 British troops fired into a crowd and killed 5 townspeople. At the trial the troops were not found guilty. Radical Whigs titled this event as the Boston Massacre and used it to stir up the colonists.

The Sons of Liberty prevented shipments of tea to New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston. Governor Hutchinson was determined to make the ships land and collect the tax on the tea in Massachusetts. To appose the governor colonists dressed as Indians boarded the ship and dumped $900,000 worth of tea into the harbor. This outraged the king and 4 acts were passed to force the colonists to pay for the tea.

The Tea Act was passed to relive the East Indian Company. They were deeply in debt and had a surplus of tea because of the high import duties. The Tea Act gave the compony a loan and made the tea cheaper to buy than smuggled tea. Radical Patriots claimed the British were bribing Americans with cheap tea so they would give up their opposition to tea tax. Colonists protested this act.

This act allowed Roman Catholicism in Quebec. It also extended Quebec's boundaries into the Ohio river. This angered influential land speculators in Pennsylvania and Virginia and many settlers. The colonists saw this as Parliament's intention to control and be involved in American affairs.

Common Sense was written by Thomas Paine. In his pamphlet he called for independence and a republican government. He used insulting and stirring language to describe monarchy. This pamphlet stirred Americans and within 6 months 25 editions were produced that reached hundreds of thousands of people. It opened their eyes and made them yearn for an independent nation, for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.