This document provides a timeline of key events leading up to the American Revolution from both British and American perspectives between 1735-1776. It summarizes key actions taken by the British parliament that angered the colonists, such as new taxes and laws restricting colonial trade. It also outlines the colonial responses, including non-violent protests like boycotts and petitions, as well as significant events like the Boston Tea Party and battles at Lexington and Concord that marked the beginning of the Revolutionary War. The document establishes the growing tension between the colonies desiring more freedom and self-governance, and the British enforcing tighter control, ultimately leading the colonies to declare independence.

1. The Road to
Revolution
(British Actions)
By Mr. Casey

2. The Road to
Revolution
(American Actions)

3. Vocabulary

4. Parliament
• (noun) Great Britain’s lawmaking assembly

5. tariff
• (noun) a tax on imported goods

6. protest
• (verb) to speak out against something

7. petition
• (noun) a document that people sign that
formally asks leaders to do or change
something

8. repeal
• (verb) to do away with

9. boycott
• (verb) an organized refusal to buy goods or
services

10. COLONIAL FEELINGS
• The colonists have been governing themselves for more than 100
years.
• Many colonists left Great Britain for freedom.
• Many colonists are several generations removed from Great
Britain.
• King George and Parliament are 3,000 miles away.
• They follow British law but think of themselves as Americans.They
don’t want a war, just equal rights and representation.

11. BRITISH FEELINGS
• These colonists should be loyal to the king.
• The colonists need to pay for the money spent during the
French & Indian War (SevenYears War)
• They are subjects of the king.The laws we give them are
the laws they should follow.

12. Timeline of British
actions!

13. Timeline of
American actions!

14. 1735TRIAL OF JOHN PETER
ZENGER
*Printer of NewYork Weekly Journal - He is put
in jail for printing true (not kind) stories about
the royal governor,William Cosby.
*He sits in jail for 10 months before he is given
a trial.Then, the governor disbars his attorneys
so he won’t have a good lawyer to represent
him in his trial and stacks the jury with people
friendly to the governor.
TheThe
governorgovernor
waswas
corrupt.corrupt.
John Peter Zenger

15. 1735
TRIAL OF JOHN PETER
ZENGER
*Luckily for Zenger, his friends know important
people and on the day of his trial Andrew Hamilton
(the colony’s best lawyer) shows up to defend him.
*Establishes freedom of speech and press, giving the
colonists the ability to publish cartoons, papers, and
pamphlets criticizing the king.

16. 1763
The Proclamation
of 1763
*The king and Parliament don’t
want issues with the Native
Americans so the king issues a
proclamation stating that
colonists can’t settle west of the
Appalachians.

17. 1763
The Proclamation
of 1763
*Colonists are angry; they just
fought a war for that land.
*They head west, ignoring the
proclamation, and settling in
several areas west of the
Appalachian Mountains.

18. 1764
Sugar Act
*Taxed more imported goods like
wine, coffee, and cambric
*Lowered the tax on molasses, but
made sure the tax was collected by
having a military presence and
British tax courts.
*No trade with the French, Dutch,
or Spanish

19. 1764
Sugar Act
*Colonists boycott British goods
*James Otis writes “The Rights
of the British Colonies Asserted
and Approved” - He says,“No
taxation without
representation.”

20. 1764
Currency Act
*Many British merchants had a hard time
collecting on debts and bills owed to them.
Colonial money was not stable.
The colonies were no longer allowed to
print their own money or issues “Bills of
Credit.”
*They depended on Great Britain for the
currency they needed to trade.

21. 1764
Currency Act
*Colonial governments begin writing
petitions complaining about the currency of
the colonies being controlled by England.
*Many merchants resort to smuggling and
illegal trade since they can no longer
purchase goods on credit or by using
colonial money

22. 1765
The Stamp Act
*To help pay for British troops in
the colonies, Parliament passes
the Stamp Act (first direct tax
on colonists). Colonists must
affix documents like newspapers,
pamphlets, books, etc. with a
stamp.

23. 1765
The Stamp Act
*Sons of Liberty is formed (secret organization that meets to
discuss ways to challenge the Stamp Act through intimidation and
sabotage)
*Mob attacks home of Mass. Chief Justice,Thomas Hutchinson
*Business shuts down throughout the colonies
*Patrick Henry and The House of Burgesses respond by writing
the Stamp Act Resolves claiming that the colonies should not be
taxed without representation.
*Stamp Act Congress sends a response to Parliament and the
Crown (for the first time representatives from different colonies got
together to discuss a united response)

24. 1765
The Quartering Act
*Required colonists to house
British soldiers in barracks built
by the colonists. If there weren’t
enough barracks, colonists were
required to let soldiers live in
inns, cellars, basements, barns,
etc.

25. 1765
The Quartering Act
*NewYork Assembly votes to
ignore the act-Parliament
suspends the governor’s right to
sign new laws.
*Violence breaks out between
the Sons of Liberty and soldiers
across Boston an NewYork.

26. 1766

27. 1766
Ben Franklin speaks to
Parliament - Stamp Act
Repealed
*Franklin speaks to Parliament
warning that there could be war if the
Stamp Act is not repealed.The act is
repealed and the colonists celebrate
in the streets.

28. 1766
Stamp Act
Repealed, but...
... Declaratory Act
Created!
*It states that Parliament has the
right to pass laws on the
colonies “in all cases
whatsoever.”

29. 1767
Townshend Acts
*Taxes on everyday goods such
as glass,lead,paper,paints, and
tea.
*The British send warships to
Boston harbor and troops into
Boston to enforce taxes.

30. 1767
Townshend Acts
*NewYork and Boston
merchants agree to boycott
British goods
*1769-Rhode Island, New Jersey,
North Carolina, and Philadelphia
merchants join the boycott

31. 1770
Boston Massacre
*Colonists surround and throw
rocks at a few British troops.
The troops fire on the crowd
and kill five people.The first
person killed is Crispus Attucks,
a former slave.

32. 1770
Boston Massacre
*Several colonists shot by British
troops.
*Paul Revere’s famous print of
the “Massacre” spreads anger
and resentment throughout the
colonies
“Bloody Massacre
Perpetrated in Kings
Street in Boston”
Paul Revere’s
Engraving is great
example of
propaganda

33. 1770
Repeal the
Townshend and
Quartering Act
*Colonists successfully
boycott Acts, forcing
Parliament to repeal
them

34. 1770
Repeal the
Townshend and
Quartering Act
*Ends the acts but leaves a small
tax on tea

35. 1773
Tea Act
*A three penny per pound tax
on all imported tea.The act gave
the British East India company
an advantage over American
competitors by allowing them to
sell to anyone and sell at a lower
price

36. 1773
BostonTea Party
*In response to the Tea Act
Samuel Adams and the Sons of
Liberty organize the Boston Tea
Party (convinces John Adams
and John Hancock to join
rebellion)

37. 1773
BostonTea Party
*Colonists disguised as Mohawk
Indians dump 342 containers of
British tea into the harbor

38. 1773
Committee of
Correspondence
*The assemblies of several
colonies decide it would be a
good idea to keep the colonies
informed and communicating
through a system of
correspondence.

39. 1774
Coercive Acts
(Intolerable Acts)
*This included the
Massachusetts Government Act,
Administration of Justice Act,
Quartering Act, and Boston Port
Act.
*Shut down the port of Boston
until they pay the money owed
from the Boston Tea Party
*Massachusetts is put under
military rule

40. Coercive Acts
(Intolerable Acts)
1774

41. 1774
Quebec Act
*The British government
extends the boundaries of
Canada, attempting to take part
of Massachusetts,Virginia, and
Connecticut.

42. 1774The First Continental Congress
*Representatives from the colonies
meet to discuss how they will address
the Intolerable Acts
*Write the “Declaration of Rights and
Grievances”

43. 1775
“Give me liberty or
give me death!”
*Patrick Henry delivers a fiery
speech to TheVirginia House of
Burgesses declaring that he is
ready to fight
(Not everyone is swayed, some
leaders are still loyal to the
crown)

44. 1775
New England
Restraining Act
*Parliament passes a law that
requires New England colonies
to trade only with England.

45. 1775
Lexington & Concord
*British troops try to confiscate guns
and ammunition.The first shots of the
revolution are fired and the war
begins.
“One if by land, two if
by sea!”
Paul Revere, William
Dawes, Samuel
Prescott and others
ride to warn Adams,
Hancock and other
patriots of the coming
British!

46. 1775
Lexington & Concord
*Colonial militia chase British troops back
to Boston
*15,000 American troops surround Boston
army

47. 1775Ethan Allen Captures Fort
Ticonderoga
*Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys capture a
strategic fort without a shot being fired
*They want the cannons of Fort T. for Bostons
*The Second Continental Congress places the
colonies in a state of defense and appoints George
Washington, commander of the new continental army

48. 1775
Battle of Bunker
Hill
*British troops attack the hills
surrounding Boston.They charge
up Breed’s Hill.They are held off
twice before overrunning the
American lines.The British lose
more than 1,000 men.

49. 1775
Olive Branch
Petition Ignored
*The members of
Parliament and the king
ignore a peace settlement
offered up by the colonists

50. 1776
Common Sense
Thomas Paine, an Englishman, writes Common Sense
* It was written in plain language and argued that an island nation and
one man should not rule a continent.
* More than 100,000 copies are distributed throughout the colonies in
three months.
* It argues that the crown is 3,000 miles away and rules for itself.They
are too far away to respond to the needs of the colonies and only care
about themselves

51. 1776

52. 1776
The Declaration of
Independence
*Thomas Jefferson presents the
Declaration of Independence
(inspired by the ideas of John
Locke and Thomas Paine)

53. Big Ideas
• There is unity in the colonies
• They have a governing body (Continental Congress)
and leadership (George Washington, Ben Franklin,
Thomas Jefferson,etc.)
• The theme of freedom and equality has spread
throughout the colonies (Common Sense, European
philosophers, James Otis’ and Patrick Henry’s speeches)
• The British know that they are in for a real fight
(Lexington and Concord, Battle of Bunker Hill)

54. There is no going back
now!
Read Patrick Henry’s speech to the
Virginia House of Burgesses:
New Nation p. 339