Darcie-Lynne Chidester HISTORY: TR- 5:30pm-6:45pm February 24, 2012

Mid-Term Essay Question # 5

There were many changes that took place from events that occurred in the American

colonist’s lives from 1763 to 1776 that led to the Declaration of Independence. During these

thirteen years many disputes took place between British government and American colonists.

From these events the colonists finally wrote a letter (titled, Declaration of Independence) to the

British Government (King and Parliament) that stated the rights of the people. It was signed on

July 4, 1776 declaring Independence of America.

This very long dispute started with the Treaty of Paris 1763 which granted Britain a great

deal of valuable North American land. American colonist wanted to settle west of the

Appellation Mountains but the British did not want the American colonist to do that because it

would upset the French and Native Americans. The Proclamation of 1763 was issued, this was a

document stating that the colonist could settle on the boundaries of the 13 colonies. This started

the many events in which the British government’s actions and intent were misunderstood and

disregarded by the American colonists.

The next event that occurred was that British government started taxing the American

colonists without representation. The American colonists interpreted this as a violation of their

rights; they did not believe that it was fair to be taxed without their consent. This dispute led to

the Stamp Act of 1766, which was a document stating that everything taxed had to be stamped

on legal paper to show proof of payment. After the Stamp Act, parliament issued the Declaratory

Act and after the Declaratory Act the Townshend Act took place.

Darcie-Lynne Chidester HISTORY: TR- 5:30pm-6:45pm February 24, 2012

The next event to take place was the Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770). The Boston

Massacre led the Parliament to concede on the issue of taxation and all Townshend were

repealed except the tax on tea. The Boston Massacre taught American colonists that the British

government would use any and all force to keep them in line.

Another event that took place after the Boston Massacre was the Tea Act (1773), which

was a law passed stating that tea must be taxed. Colonist reacted to the Tea Act by storming

ships one night and dumping all of the tea into the water before the tax could be collected.

After the Boston Tea Party the British government was tired of the colonist’s actions so

they passed the Intolerable Acts which were a collection of two acts (Coercive and Quebec Act).

The American colonists were not pleased about the Intolerable Acts and thought that it

was pushing things too far, so they held a meeting in Philadelphia called the First Continental

Congress.

There were a few more events that took place before the Declaration of Independence.

The second Continental Congress, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, and the first few battles of

the American Revolution.