Steps toward
Revolution
The Struggle for Independence
© Adventures in Social Studies
• Date - 1660-1663
• What the Act Did:
• All goods shipped to and from the colonies had to be
carried by British ships
• The British were trying to restrict trading and shipping
• Colonist Reaction - Colonists mainly ignored
them and “followed them”
• British Action - The British Act was obeyed so no
action had to be taken
Navigation Acts
© Adventures in Social Studies
• Date - Issued October 7, 1763 by
King George III
• What the Act Did - Followed
the end of the French and Indian
War and forbade all settlers from
settling to the west of the
Appalachian mountains
• The British were trying to
stabilize their colonies in one area
• Colonist Reaction - Colonists
moved anyways and ignored the
law
• British Action – little to no
enforcement of the Proclamation
Proclamation of 1763
© Adventures in Social Studies
• Date - Passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on
April 5, 1764
• What the Act Did - This act taxed sugar, molasses,
coffee, wine, silk, and indigo; couldn't import foreign
rum or wine
• Colonist Reaction - Colonists refused to pay the
tax and would smuggle the items into the country and
use them
• British Action - The British tried to enforce it and
hoped the tax would be collected but it usually was
not
Sugar Act
© Adventures in Social Studies
• Date - Issued in 1765
• What the Act Did - Required all colonists to feed
and shelter British troops
• Colonist Reaction - Northern colonies protested
over troops stationed in port cities and resisted the
act
• British Action - The Quartering Act was
eliminated in 1770 because of resistance but was
then reinstated in 1774
Quartering Act
© Adventures in Social Studies
• Date - Instated in 1765
• What the Act Did - The act required that all
printed documents carry tax stamps (ex:
newspapers, legal papers, playing cards)
• Colonist Reaction - The colonists protested and
boycotted British goods; the Sons of Liberty (group
of American Patriots) formed
• British Action - The British repealed the Act in
1766 because boycotts were hurting British trade
Stamp Act
© Adventures in Social Studies
• Date - Instated in 1766
• What the Act Did - Stated that Parliament had the
same authority over the colonies as it did to Great
Britain – including the right to tax the colonies and
make laws
• Colonist Reaction - Colonists were outraged and
upset because they thought this was just the first of
more imposing acts
• British Action – Continued to make laws and tax
the colonists
Declaratory Act
© Adventures in Social Studies
• Date - A series of Acts placed on the colonists in
1767
• What the Act Did - These taxed wine, tea, paper,
glass, lead and paint
• Colonist Reaction - The colonists formed nonimportation associations; some colonists boycotted
English luxury goods
• British Action - The British reacted by repealing
all taxes except the one on tea in 1770
Townshend Acts
© Adventures in Social Studies
• Date - Put in place in 1773
• What the Act Did - The Tea Act gave the British
East India Company the ability to ship tea straight
to the colonies; it cut the price of tea, but was still
taxed
• Colonist Reaction - This act inspired to Boston
Tea Party, Edenton Tea Party and others
• British Action - The
colonist reaction led to
the establishment of
the Intolerable Acts
Tea Act
© Adventures in Social Studies
• Date - Established in 1774
• What the Acts Did - These Acts closed the port of
Boston until the tea was paid for; reinstated
Quartering Act; appointed a new royal governor;
and placed the entire Massachusetts colony under
military control
• Colonist Reaction - Colonists reacted by sending
help to Boston in the form of food and goods; 1st
Continental refused to obey the Acts and trade
• British Action - The British responded by ordering
the Massachusetts governor to enforce Acts using
necessary force
ULTIMATELY led to WAR
Coercive (Intolerable) Acts
Named “Coercive” by the British
Colonists called them “Intolerable”© Adventures in Social Studies