Events that led to The American
Revolution Review
Event
Description
French and Indian
War
British soldiers fought against French soldiers and
Native Americans. Native Americans joined in the
battle against the British because they were afraid
the British would take over their land. In the peace
treaty of 1763 the British got most of the French
land in North America. Also as a result of the war,
the British began taxing the colonists to pay for the
war.
The Stamp Act
A tax put on the American colonies by the British in
1765. It said they had to pay a tax on all sorts of printed
materials such as newspapers, magazines and legal
documents. It was called this because the colonies were
supposed to buy paper from Britain that had an official
stamp on it that showed they had paid the tax. This was
one way Britain planned to pay off their debts from the
French and Indian War.
These laws placed new taxes on glass, lead,
paints, paper, and tea. Colonial reaction to
these taxes was the same as to the Sugar
Act and Stamp Act, and Britain eventually
repealed all the taxes except the one on tea.
The Townshend Acts
The Boston Massacre
The Boston Tea Party
Shooting of five American colonists by British
troops on March 5, 1770. One man named Crispus
Attacks was killed. Nearly every part of the story
is disputed by both sides. Did the colonists have
weapons? The British say rocks and other such
weapons were hurled at them. But the British had
guns, and they did open fire. The Boston Massacre
deepened American distrust of the British military
presence in the colonies.
Angry and frustrated at a new tax on tea,
American colonists calling themselves the Sons of
Liberty and disguised as Mohawk Native
Americans boarded three British ships (the
Dartmouth, the Eleanor, and the Beaver) and
dumped 342 whole crates of British tea into
Boston harbor on December 16, 1773.
Events that led to The American
Revolution Review
The Intolerable Acts
The Quartering Acts
Series of laws sponsored by British Prime Minister
Lord North and enacted in 1774 in response to the
Boston Tea Party.
One of the Intolerable acts which allowed royal
troops to stay in houses or empty buildings if
barracks were not available
Continental Congress
meeting in
Philadelphia
A group of 56 delegates from 12 colonies (all
except Georgia) who met in Philadelphia in
September of 1774. They came together to act
together in response to the Intolerable Acts. They
met in secret because they didn't want Great
Britain to know that they were united.
Lexington
Town where John Hancock and Samuel Adams
were staying in order to avoid being caught by the
British since they were wanted men.
Concord
Town where weapons were being stored.
Midnight Ride
On the evening of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere
was sent for by Dr. Joseph Warren and instructed
to ride to Lexington, Massachusetts, to warn
Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British
troops were marching to arrest them. After being
rowed across the Charles River to Charlestown by
two associates, Paul Revere borrowed a horse
from his friend Deacon John Larkin. While in
Charlestown, he verified that the local "Sons of
Liberty" committee had seen his pre-arranged
signals. (Two lanterns had been hung briefly in
the bell-tower of Christ Church in Boston,
indicating that troops would row "by sea" across
the Charles River to Cambridge, rather than
marching "by land" out Boston Neck. Revere had
arranged for these signals the previous weekend,
Events that led to The American
Revolution Review
as he was afraid that he might be prevented from
leaving Boston).
On the way to Lexington, Revere "alarmed" the
country-side, stopping at each house, and arrived
in Lexington about midnight. As he approached
the house where Adams and Hancock were
staying, a sentry asked that he not make so much
noise. "Noise!" cried Revere, "You'll have noise
enough before long. The regulars are coming
out!" After delivering his message, Revere was
joined by a second rider, William Dawes, who had
been sent on the same errand by a different
route. Deciding on their own to continue on to
Concord, Massachusetts, where weapons and
supplies were hidden, Revere and Dawes were
joined by a third rider, Dr. Samuel Prescott. Soon
after, all three were arrested by a British patrol.
Prescott escaped almost immediately, and Dawes
soon after. Revere was held for some time and
then released. Left without a horse, Revere
returned to Lexington in time to witness part of
the battle on the Lexington Green.
Shot Heard ‘Round
the World
First shots fired between American and British
troops, on April 19, 1775. The British chose to
march to Concord because it was an arms depot.
This meant that the Americans had stockpiled
weapons there. British troops had occupied
Boston and were marching on Concord as they
passed through Lexington. No one is still sure who
fired first, but it was the "Shot Heard 'Round the
World." Both sides opened fire, and the Americans
were forced to withdraw. But they had slowed the
British advance. By the time the Redcoats got to
Concord, the Americans were waiting for them in
force. The weapons depot was saved, and the
British were forced to retreat, harassed by
militiamen along the way.