Audio was written by Dr. Joseph
Warren in 1770 it is called Free America.
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The British government had won the war against
France and expected the American colonists to help
pay for the war. They came up with the idea of
taxing the colonists to help raise money.
Starting in 1764 Britain’s government passed
many acts that would tax the American colonists.
The first act passed was called the Sugar Act. This
act taxed sugar and other imported goods.
In 1765 Britain created the Stamp Act. This law
taxed anything printed on paper including contracts,
newspapers, and calendars.
In 1767 Britain passed the Townshend Act that
taxed tea, glass, lead, paint and paper brought into
the colonies. Colonists were angry about this tax
and all the others that the British wanted them to
pay.
Colonists responding to The Sugar Act
of 1764.
•  On March 5th, 1770 British soldiers
stationed in Boston shot at unarmed
civilians.
•  5 colonists died in the attack.
•  The heavy military presence in
Boston that lead to the Massacre
was the result of British
enforcement of the Townshend Acts
of 1767.
The British soldiers take aim at innocent civilians. •
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The British passed the
Tea Act in 1773. This
act said that the colonists
have to buy all of their tea
from England.
On December 16, 1773
a group of men disguised
as American Indians
boarded three tea ships
in Boston Harbor and
emptied all of the tea into
the harbor.
The British responded by
passing the Coercive
Acts that put a blockade
on Boston Harbor until
the tea from the Boston
Tea Party was paid for by
the colonists.
Colonists, disguised as American Indians, dumping British tea into
Boston Harbor. •
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The Coercive Acts of 1774
were known by the colonists
as the Intolerable Acts.
They put a naval blockade
against Boston Harbor and
they banned committees of
correspondence. These were
groups in different colonies
that exchanged letters about
colonial politics.
In response to the Intolerable
Acts all of the colonies except
Georgia met in The First
Continental Congress and
agreed to ban all trade with
England until the Acts were
repealed.
Meeting of the First Continental Congress in 1774.