Major Events Leading up to the War

The Sugar Act (4/5/1764)
- Three-cent tax on refined sugar, and increased taxes on coffee, indigo, and certain kinds of wine
- Banned importation of rum and French wines
- The taxes were raised without the colonists having any say, opinion, or consent

The Boston Massacre (3/5/1770)
- Five American colonists were shot by British troops
- One African-American man was killed
- The British claimed rocks and other weapons were hurled at them, but the British had guns and did open fire
- This encouraged American distrust of the British military being in the colonies

Boston Tea Party (12/16/1773)
- Caused by anger and frustration on a new tax on tea
- American colonists called themselves the Sons of Liberty and disguised themselves as Mohawk Native Americans
- After boarding three British ships, they dumped 342 crates of British tea into the Boston harbor

The First Continental Congress (Philadelphia, 9/5-10/26/1774)
- Established because the colonies didn’t have a central government
- A group of 56 people from 12 colonies, which met in Philadelphia in response to the Intolerable Acts.
- Every meeting was in secrecy because they didn’t want Great Britain to know that they were united