The American colonists believed that new British laws denied their rights.

French and Indian War: 1754 – 1763

France + Native American Tribes
(Shawnee) vs. Great Britain +
Native American Tribes (Mohawk &
Cherokee)

42,000 British vs. 20,100 French

British victory

France lost a lot of their territory

After the French and Indian War


With Great Britain winning the
French and Indian War…
The King was desperate for new
revenue:
 incoming money; usually by taxes

 The King and Parliament felt it was only fair that the
American colonists pay for part of the cost of the war.



American colonists took action:
smuggled goods/items into the country to avoid taxes
Parliament passed the Sugar Act

(1765):lowered taxes on imported goods

Allowed: officers to take goods cheaper

Parliament passed another law in an effort to raise money:

Stamp Act:  1765

Tax on all printed materials


Townsend Act  1767
 to raise revenue to pay the salaries of governors and judges
 to create a better way of enforcing trade regulations/rules
 to punish the province of New York for failing to comply with the Quartering
Act:

(1765) Must provide British soldiers with housing and food
 to establish the British Parliament as the head of the colonies and the right to
tax the colonies


Tea Act:  1773

Only allowed colonists to purchase tea from British East India
Company, which included a tax.

With these acts being passed by
Parliament, why do you think the American colonists were angry? Answer in 2 – 4 sentences

1. Parliament was interfering in colonial affairs
2. Taxing without consent


Violence in Boston
Relations between the redcoats (British soldiers) and the Boston colonists grew pretty tense

Boston Massacre: March 5,
1770
 killed 5 colonists; wounding 6
***Side Note: foreshadowing the
American Revolutionary War.

Boston Tea Party : December 16, 1773

Men disguised as Mohawks boarded ships in Boston Harbor

Threw 342 chests of tea overboard
***Side Note: key event in the growing tensions leading to the
American Revolution.


Closed Boston Harbor until colonists paid for all the tea

Colonists can’t get food or
supplies with the harbor closed

Colonists are not allowed to have town meetings

Colonists had to shelter redcoats in their own homes

***Side Note: these acts were seen as a violation of the rights of colonists, which organized the 
First Continental Congress in
September of 1774 and escalated to the  American Revolutionary
War