French and Indian War Cause Both British and French want to expand their territory With new land comes resources, which means $$$ Effect Great Britain with LOTS of war debt Expect colonists to help pay off the debt Great Britain gained lots of new land; colonists want to expand

Sugar Act/Stamp Act Cause Great Britain sends more soldiers to patrol the colonies to protect them from the Native Americans (conflicts caused by Proclamation of 1763); need $$ to pay them! Stricter laws on molasses imports, GB Navy can seize merchant vessels All merchandise had to have a tax stamp Effect Angry colonists called patriots Complained that taxes were to raise revenue Violence Boycott of all British goods until the Stamp Act was repealed

Proclamation of 1763 Cause Great Britain afraid that if colonists settle further inland they will feel less a connection with the motherland Effect Colonists ignored the proclamation asking them not to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. Causes problems with the Native Americans

Townshend Act/Duties Cause Tax on the import of glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. Effect Boycotts of British goods Pamphlets claiming the new tax denied the colonists rights as English subjects; reduced them to the status of slaves Boston=most tense; five dead after a mob challenged troops guarding customs house. Finally repealed completely.

Boston Tea Party Cause The Tea Act-a small tax placed on colonists to symbolize the power of the mother country British East India Company going broke; selling directly to the colonies meant cheaper tea for the colonists even with the tax Effect Dressed as Indians, patriots dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor

Intolerable Acts Cause Punishment for Boston Tea Party Closed the port of Boston Effect First Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia Affirmed their loyalty to King George III; rejecting the authority of Parliament Voted to boycott trade with the mother country Urged colonies to form militias to resist enforcement of Intolerable Acts

Battle at Lexington and Concord Cause Patriots rumored to be storing weapons and gunpowder in Lexington, Virginia. Concerned the British (peaceful until that point) Effect Lexington-no one knows who shot first; British opened fire; 8 “minutemen” dead Concord-Minutemen met British at bridge on Concord River; patriots opened fire. When British arrived back in Boston 73 were dead; 200 were wounded or missing. Patriots-100 killed

INDEPENDENCE? EVEN AMONG THE MILITIA FORCES THAT HAD FOUGHT AT LEXINGTON AND CONCORD, MOST BELIEVED THAT THEY WERE EFENDING THEIR RIGHTS AS BRITISH CITIZENS, NOT STRIVING FOR INDEPENDENCE.