At the time when Christopher Columbus introduced the European public to what would become America, some residents from Britain were not satisfied with their government, finding it to be extremely over controlling, especially about religion. Consequently, many of them decided, although then the land had been decades away from being as architecturally and culturally advanced as their current home, to move their families to the East Coast of what would become America for more freedom. However, the area was still ruled by Britain, so the land was separated into colonies of Britain.
The Stamp Act
In 1754, the French and Indian War started between New France and the new colonies. Britain sent many troops over to help fight the war along with the colonies, and some troops even stayed for post-war protection. However, after the war ended in 1763, Britain realized how much debt they had from supplying the troops and all the necessary equipment for the colonies. Therefore, they decided to impose expensive taxes on the colonies for all printed resources the colonies were buying from them. However, they did not tax people living in Britain for the same things. To enforce this law, all colonists had to have a stamp on every taxed item they bought to show they had payed the tax. This is now known as The Stamp Act. It left the colonists economically unstable which convinced them to protest the new tax.
The Boston Massacre
The majority of colonists began to protest against Britain imposing new rules for their land, because they did not have a representative in British Parliament to speak for their community (They also believed the Stamp Act was extremely unfair and unequal). In 1765 a large association of protesters came together in Boston called the Sons of Liberty, and eventually it expanded to the rest of the colonies. Eventually The Sons Of Liberty began a large protest in Boston which got out of hand and five colonists were shot by British soldiers. Today it is called the Boston Massacre.
The Boston Tea Party
The colonists decided that, in further revolt to the taxes, they would begin a boycott of British goods that were being taxed, so in 1773 when the British started taxing tea, the colonists took action. When three trade ships in Boston Harbor full of taxed tea came to unload, several colonists dressed as Native Americans boarded the ships and threw all the contents into the ocean. Today this instance is known as the Boston Tea Party.
The Intolerable Acts
The British were infuriated by the Boston Tea Party, so they put into effect a new series of laws known today as “The Intolerable Acts”. The five Intolerable Acts are the Boston Port Act (closing off the Boston Port until the colonists paid for the tea again), the Massachusetts Government Act (giving more power to the governor of Massachusetts who was employed by Britain themselves, taking power away from the colonists), the Administration of Justice Act (allowing the government to move the place of trials against government officials to Britain), the Quartering Act (forcing colonists to provide housing for British soldiers), and the Quebec Act (expanding British territory into the Ohio Valley and making Quebec a Catholic province).
The First Continental Congress
In 1774, a delegate from every colony except Georgia got together in Philadelphia and decided to sort out their problem with Britain’s taxes and laws. They wrote a civilized letter to King George III explaining their problem with Britain’s controlling ways, and insisted the King stop the Intolerable Acts. They threatened to resume their boycott of taxed products again and planned to meet again a year later if Britain did not grant their wishes.
The Second Continental Congress
The King intentionally did not respond to the letter, so the Second Continental Congress (lead by John Hancock) started meeting in 1775 as planned. They continued to meet until 1781 when the Articles of the Confederation were agreed upon. Georgia also joined the Second Continental Congress. Some other things they accomplished during those years were assembling an army to fight the war Britain declared (The Continental Army), sending The Olive Branch Petition to the King (an attempt to avoid war), they created the Declaration Of Independence (declaring the colonies’ independence from Britain), chose a national flag and created a government. They then went by the name “The Congress Of The Confederation”.