1765: Stamp Act
- One of the first actions taken by the British government to increase revenue.
- Required paper goods to be taxed.
- The colonists argued the British could not tax the colonists without their consent, as they had no representation in the British government.
1767: Townshed Act
- A series of laws that imposed taxes of lead, glass, paints, paper and tea.
- The Americans boycotted British products.
- British merchants pressured Parliament to repeal most of the Townshend Acts, except the tea tax.
Boston Massacre
- On the evening of March 5, 1770, British soldiers began harassing colonists with insults.
- When this escalated to throwing objects at the British, the soldiers fired, killing five.
1773: Boston Tea Party
- To save the British East India Company from going bankrupt, Parliament allowed them to sell tea directly to the colonists.
- The colonists saw it as a continuation of taxation without representation.
- A group of Sons of Liberty disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians, boarded three ships and dumped their tea into the harbor.
The British responded by passing the Coercive Acts, which were also known as the "Intolerable Acts" by the angry colonists.
- The port of Boston was closed.
- Colonial charter was revised.
- British soldiers were allowed to be housed in private homes.
In addition, the Quebec Act of 1774 extended the Canadian border far south into the area claimed by several colonies, and made French law effective there, instead of English common law.
All these events created such a deep level of resentment that the Americans decided to take matters into their own hands and began arming themselves.
On April 19, 1775, British forces sought to capture two rebel stockpiles in Massachusetts, starting with Concord.
The resulting skirmishes are collectively known as "the shot heard round the world", thus formally beginning the American Revolutionary War.