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aka 7 Years War between France and England. In the colonies, it was called the French Indian War because the colonists fought with British soldiers against France the Indians who were on side of France. Because of the war, England had a massive war debt began to tax the people in the 13 colonies. -
The Stamp Act of 1765 was Britain's first direct tax on American colonies, requiring stamps on all legal papers, newspapers, and playing cards to raise revenue for defense, sparking widespread protest under the banner of "taxation without representation," leading to boycotts, the Stamp Act Congress, and its eventual repeal in 1766, though it ignited revolutionary fervor by establishing Parliament's power to tax colonists without their consent.
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The Boston Tea Party was a pivotal 1773 political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, against the British Tea Act and "taxation without representation". On December 16, protesters dumped 342 chests of British East India Company tea into Boston Harbor, directly leading to the American Revolutionary War. -
Adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 5, 1775, the Olive Branch Petition was a final attempt to avoid full-blown war with Great Britain. It affirmed American loyalty to King George III and requested a negotiation to address grievances, but the King refused to read it, officially declaring the colonies in open rebellion. -
The Declaration of Independence described the American colonies' justification for separating from Great Britain, outlining core principles like natural rights (life, liberty, pursuit of happiness), the idea that government serves the people (consent of the governed), and the right to revolution if a government becomes destructive, while also listing specific grievances against the British King. It announced the birth of the United States as free and independent states. -
the opening military engagements of the American Revolutionary War, marking the start of armed conflict between 13 British colonies and Great Britain. Following a secret British mission to seize colonial weapons in Concord, Massachusetts. -
formally ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the United States. Negotiated by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay, it recognized American independence, established generous western boundaries to the Mississippi River, and secured fishing rights.