1764
Sugar Act: A tax imposed on the colonists for foreign goods including "sugar, certain wines, coffee, pimento, cambric and printed calico, and further regulated the export of lumber and iron." (Kindig, T., 1995). Not only was it to raise revenue for England, but it also forced the colonists to reduce trade with the West Indes, Madeira, the Azores and the Canary Islands.
Currency Act: The American colonists were using bills of credit to pay merchants for the war expenses but the British merchants would not accept this form of payment because there was no actual money in bank backing bills of credit. Consequently British Parliament imposed the Currency Act to regulate the currency in America. Following the Currency Act, the colonists began to show rebellion against the British Parliament because they had no representation in Parliament. As a result, they refused to use imported English goods which was called nonimportation.
1765
Quartering Act: The British Parliament forced the American colonists to provide quarters, fuel, transportation, food, and drink to the British soldiers. The American colonists did not agree with this because it was an indirect tax on them. (PARLIAMENT PASSES THE QUARTERING ACT. (2013).
Stamp Act: "An act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other duties, in the British colonies and plantations in America, towards further defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the same;" (THE STAMP ACT OF 1765. (2009). This tax was imposed on anything that was printed such as ships, papers, newspapers, legal documents, playing cards, etc. The next year, in 1766, the Stamp Act was repealed. In response to the repeal, British Parliament passed the Declaratory Act which declared that they could still make laws in the American colonies.
1767
Townshend Acts: "To help pay the expenses involved in governing the American colonies, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, which initiated taxes on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea." (Boston tea party historical society. (2008). This enraged the American colonists even more which resulted in discouraging the purchase of imported British goods. (nonimportation) In 1770, the Townshend Act was withdrawn because the American colonists were not purchasing British imported good, therefore it was not creating enough revenue.
1770
Boston Massacre: "The Massacre was the 1770, pre-Revolutionary incident growing out of the anger against the British troops sent to Boston to maintain order and to enforce the Townshend Acts." (Boston massacre historical society. (2008). In the two years prior to the Boston Massacre a number of events escalated the tension between the American colonists and the British troops including Sam Adam's letter to Parliament about taxation without representation which resulted in the British governor dissolving the Massachusetts state legislature. Later, a riot ensued between the colonists and the soldiers regarding the quartering act. On March 5, 1770, British soldiers were surrounded by angry colonists and shots were fired which then resulted in the Boston Massacre leaving five American colonists dead.
1773
Tea Act: "An act to allow a drawback of the duties of customs on the exportation of tea to any of his Majesty's colonies or plantations in America; to increase the deposit on bohea tea to be sold at the India Company's sales; and to impower the commissioners of the treasury to grant licenses to the East India Company to export tea duty-free." (Tea Act of 1773. (2009). This act led to the boycotting of British tea imports which culminated in the Boston Tea Party.
Below is a drawing of the Boston Massacre
Images
Header: HTTP://TODDLOHENRY.COM/2012/12/16/AMERICAN-MINUTE-FOR-DECEMBER-16TH-THE-BOSTON-TEA-PARTY/
Boston Massacre Photo: http://moodle.monashores.net/mod/page/view.php?id=52539
Header: HTTP://TODDLOHENRY.COM/2012/12/16/AMERICAN-MINUTE-FOR-DECEMBER-16TH-THE-BOSTON-TEA-PARTY/
Boston Massacre Photo: http://moodle.monashores.net/mod/page/view.php?id=52539