2. Road to Revolution

3. Stamp Act OWhat: – First direct tax on colonists. Taxed any paper products. OWhen: – March 1765 OWhy: – Britain wanted the colonists to help pay for the cost of military defense. OReaction: – Colonists were very angry and defiant.

4. Sons of Liberty OWhat: –Group of men led by Sam Adams. They used intimidation and violence to protest. OWhen: –July 1765 OWhy: –Opposed to the Stamp Act. OReaction: –Stamp agents fearful and resign. Some American merchants stop ordering British goods. Samuel Adams More Info on Sons of Liberty

5. Townshend Acts OWhat: –Taxes on any goods imported from Britain. OWhen: – June 1767 OWhy: –Officially to offset the costs of administering and protecting the colonies. Unofficially, imposed by Townshend to prove that he could do it. OReaction: –Boycott of British goods, colonists made their own stuff.

6. Boston Massacre OWhat: – Fight between British soldiers and Boston citizens. OWhen – March 1770 OWhy: – Soldiers being bothered by people so shot back. OReaction: – Troops withdrawn, Bostonians very angry. For More Info On the Boston Massacre Click Here!Click Here!

7. Boston Tea Party OWhat: –Colonists dress up as Indians and dump all the tea from British ships in the Boston harbor. OWhen: –March 1774 OWhy: –To protest the tea tax. OReaction: –Britain passes more laws, colonists becoming united. More Information on the Boston Tea Party

8. “Shot Heard Around the World” OWhat: –First shots fired between the British and the colonists at Lexington. OWhen: –April 19, 1775 OWhy: –British trying to destroy colonists’ weapons, colonists defend themselves. OResult: –The Revolutionary War has begun.

9. Second Continental Congress OWhat: –Second group of colonists that get together to discuss problems with the British. OWhen: –May 1775 - 1776 OWhy: –To make decisions about how to handle the break from Britain. OResults: –George Washington becomes General of the Army, Declaration of Independence written. – George Washington Thomas Jefferson John Adams Ben Franklin John Hancock

10. Declaration of Independence OWhat: – Document signed by colonial leaders. OWhen: – July 4, 1776 OWhy: –To announce to the world that the colonists have decided that they can no longer live under the rule of Britain, America is going to be a free and independent nation. OResult: –Ultimately a new nation. The war eventually ends and the Declaration is used many times by other groups of people as a foundation for fights for freedom.

11. The End (and the beginning of a new nation)