The British Acts
1660,1663,1673- The Navigation Acts
1st law- closed colonies to all trade except goods carried in English ships
2nd law- all goods had to pass through England to be taxed
3rd law- taxed coastal trade, appointment of customs officials to enforce acts
1762- Writs of Assistance
-blanket search warrant to search ships and colonists homes for smuggled goods
1763- Proclamation of 1763 (Reaction to Pontiac’s Rebellion)
-colonists could not settle West of Appalachian Mountains
1764- Currency Act
-colonists could not print their own currency
1765- Quartering Act
-colonists could be forced to accommodate British soldiers who were there to “protect” them
1765- Stamp Act
-first direct tax- all legal documents and printed material required the purchase of a government
stamp
Colonial Reaction: slogan of “no taxation without representation” develops, Stamp Act Congress
meets, leads to British repeal of Stamp Act
1765- Declaratory Act
-Parliament asserted its right to regulate the colonies in “any way whatsoever”
1767- Townshend Duties
-taxes on imported goods like lead, glass, tea; England also suspends colonial legislature
Colonial Reaction: Sons of Liberty gains influence, more boycotts and protests, Boston Massacre
takes place
1773- Tea Act
-colonists must buy tea from British East India Company in order to avoid high taxes, tax remains
on tea (other taxes are repealed)
Colonial Reaction: Boston Tea Party
1774- Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts)
-closed Boston Harbor, limited colonial government, quartering act broadly expanded, designed
to punish the colonists
Colonial Reaction: First Continental Congress meets, grievances sent to King, begin preparing for
war
Bang!!!- First fighting begins at Lexington and Concord
Debate Rounds
Round 1- Writs of Assistance, Proclamation of 1763, and Currency Act
Round 2- Quartering Act, Stamp Act, Declaratory Act, and Townshend Duties
Round 3- Tea Act and Coercive Acts