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The Proclamation of 1763 was a direct edict from King George III. It effectively blocked the settlement of lands west of the Appalachians. For context, the British gained land from the Eastern Coast of the North American Continent all the way to the Mississippi, it was expected by the colonists of these regions that these lands would be opened to settlement, but the British blocked it. The lands were reserved for the Native Americans and was planned by the British to be given to the colonies slowly and respecting the Native American tribes in the region. The American Colonists were generally upset by this due to the fact they could not settle West and gain the rich resources from the area, but more North the Canadians used this edict to shape their Constitution.

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With the British government following the concept of creating National Debt to fund their war efforts the British overestimated their ability to win the war with little effect to their sovereign debt. In turn, the British debt nearly doubled and had to repay it quickly or else bond holders would not be able to get their money back and the Central British Bank would have to default on its debt. For context, The Molasses Act (the direct predecessor) was set to expire in 1763, and the British government saw the opportunity to gain a bit of money for re-establishing a tax on sugar. The problem was, The Molasses Act was barely enforced due to a myriad of issues, and so the Colonists were used to paying no tax. Therefore, this tax made the Colonists a bit upset due to the fact that they were already used to paying pretty low for sugar and sugar products, but now had to pay a bit extra due to the (indirect) tax.

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With the British increasingly trying to protect the colonies from both domestic and foreign threats, leading British generals asked Parliament to pass an act requiring the Colonial Governments to provide housing for the soldiers as there were controversies before (Most notably Col. Henry Bouquet). The Colonies were required to provide housing in barracks and taverns, if not they would have to stay in hotels, stables, or houses of people who made alcohol. If this could not sustain the British Soldiers they could stay in places not currently inhabited. The Colonial Governments were required to pay for the housing and feeding of the soldiers stationed in their territory. The Colonists were upset by this because they did not feel it adequately fixed the issue of military personnel living in private homes and it was weakly followed.

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To continue to try to handle their National Debt, Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which was a direct tax on the colonies. (Meaning that the colonists directly paid the tax) The tax was on mainly paper goods, specifically printed goods with ink on them. One of the more unpopular things is that it had to be paid in Pound Sterling, and not local American currency. This Act was probably one of the turning points for the Colonies, it was that unpopular. This is where the slogan of the revolutionary cause began, "No Taxation without Representation.". The Stamp Act Congress was raised and convened to deal with the issue. Meanwhile whilst mass public unrest was occurring, all Stamp Act distributors were intimidated into resigning their positions.

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The full title for the "Declaratory Act".

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The Act restated that Parliament had full control of the colonies and the laws were binding there as much as they would have in Britain. It also coincided with the repeal of the Stamp Act and the reduction of the Sugar Act. It was virtually a copy of the Declaratory Act 1719 imposed on Ireland 47 years prior. The response to the act was mixed, some hailed it as a savior of peace by Parliament whilst some noticed the wording and expected future acts in the future, making some Colonial leaders nervous.

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The Townshend was a series of acts proposed and supported by Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Equivalent to the Secretary of the Treasury) that dealt with an extensive list of issues. The first one was a law called the
The New York Restraining Act that punished the Colony of New York due to not abiding by the Quartering Act, it was meant to stop the New York Assembly and governor from passing laws, but it never came into effect as the Assembly cooperated with British on matters pertaining to the Quartering Act. The second was a tax on lead, glass, paper, tea, and paint called the The Revenue Act, it also gave the tax enforcers a lot of power as they could get a warrant to search through suspected smuggler's property, which was extremely unpopular. The third was actually a removal of all taxes on the British East India Company to prevent smugglers from the Netherlands to usurp customers and to regain a profit. It was called the The Indemnity Act and was passed at the same time as the fourth Townshend Act. The fourth Townshend Act was the The Commissioners of Customs Act which basically established an advisor board for the issue of enforcing taxes and to prevent smuggling. It was created due to the fact that the British were having trouble enforcing these laws all the way from Britain, so it made sense for them to bring it to America instead. The final Townshend Act was the The Vice Admiralty Court Act, which transferred the trial of those being prosecuted for smuggling to British Navy courts instead of Colonial courts, establishing Martial Law in that sector of the British legal system. It was unpopular due to the strict rules in place and due to the fact that it would be up to the judge and not a jury what the decision was.

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Paul Revere's colored engraving of the Boston Massacre.

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The Boston Massacre is probably one of the most iconic events leading to the American Revolution. It was caused by a group of colonists gathering outside of the Massachusetts Colonial Legislature due to a conflict between some locals and a British soldier. Captain Thomas Preston brought out a total of 6 soldiers to disperse the crowd. The crowd threw objects and taunted the British soldiers, and then at one point one of the British soldiers fired, follow by the rest, 5 people died all in all. The Boston Massacre was subject to a lot of scrutiny both from the British and the Colonists. The Colonists saw this opportunity to further their own objectives and created propaganda to turn the people dead into martyrs and paint them as innocent. Loyalist propaganda said that the Colonists were acting out of order and assaulting the British soldiers.

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Similarly to the Indemnity Act, the Tea Act was meant to reduce the influence of smugglers on the Colonial and British tea market. Instead of stopping at Britain and then going to the Colonies as the British East India Company previously did, they were allowed to ship their goods directly to the colonies, effectively saving time. (And we all know time = money) This Act directly lead to the Boston Tea Party as numerous groups of workers realized the implications of the Tea Party in connection to the Townshend Acts and quickly attempted to block it. Most of these resistances against the Act was successful, and again was one of the stepping stones to the American Revolution.

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The Boston Tea Party was a very direct protest of the British Townshend and Tea Acts. Mostly made out of the group called the "Sons of Liberty", they went onto the ships and dumped an entire shipment of tea from the British East India Company into the sea. If it was done today, the tea would have been worth $1.7 Million. Parliament would respond with the Coercive/Intolerable (Depending on your side) Acts. It was one of the pivotal moments in the lead up to the American Revolutionary War because it showed the colonists were willing to do a lot to preserve in their perspective, “liberty”.

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*To start, I will refer to the Intolerable Acts/Coercive Acts as it's name when it passed in Great Britain, which is the Coercive Acts

With the Boston Tea Party, Parliament attempted to gain control of the unruly colonies by passing the Coercive Acts, a series of Acts to deal with the issues that arose after the Townshend and Tea Acts. The first act was the Boston Port Act effectively blockaded and shut down Boston's maritime operations until the Bostonians paid for the tea. People were upset due to the fact that they perceived it was unfair, mostly due to the fact that a lot of people did not partake in the Boston Tea Party so why were they being punished? The Massachusetts Government Act was even more unpopular than the Boston Port Act due to the fact that it effectively dissolved the Massachusetts colonial government and put it under direct crown control, this was seen by the Colonists as directly taking away whatever representation they had left. The Administration of Justice Act was an act to pertain with the justice system. If a judge did not feel like a defendant could gain a fair trial in Massachusetts they would be able to schedule the trial elsewhere in the British sphere. The Quartering Act 1774 is the direct successor to the Quartering Act of 1765 the new Quartering Act allowed the Colonial Governor to house British Soldiers in "other buildings" if the Colony did not provide adequate housing. The Quebec Act is by some considered to be part of the Coercive Acts, it had to pertain with the territory of Quebec being expanded all the way down to Ohio and Indiana, which made some of the Colonists upset as they had fought to keep those lands out of the hands of the Catholic French but that land was going now straight back to them.

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In response to the Coercive Acts, 12 out of the 13 colonies sent ambassadors to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to meet. There were some failed plans though, such as one that planned for the United Kingdom of Great Britain to be united with the Colonies directly, which would have been named the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Colonies". At the meeting they wrote up a petition to the King asking to repeal the Intolerable Acts, to no avail. One thing that they did get done though was a trade boycott against the British.

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After the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the successor to the First Continental Congress convened, the Second Continental Congress. They wrote up a plea to the King via the Olive Branch Petition, which emphasized on their loyalty to Great Britain and their wish to not go into conflict. For context, the Congress had just approved an Invasion of Canada and was on the cusp of giving its justification for taking up arms, something that didn't help the petitions cause at all. The King actually had refused to read it before the Proclamation of Rebellion. This ended up alienating a lot of the Second Continental Congress in favor of the Patriot cause.

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The culmination of all these events led up to the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence was a compilation of all of the grievances that the colonies had against the Crown, and gave the legal and moral justifications for breaking away. It's one of the most important documents in American History for this reason, and the nations founding is usually based on this document, which was finalized and announced on July 4th. The document consisted mostly of grievances of the Second Continental Congress to the Crown directly, and not realizing Parliament's effects on the laws passed during these times. Some of the moral and legal justifications are still used today in the wordings of many documents around the world, and the introduction is one of the most famous pieces of text in the entire world, among those of the United States Constitution and the Magna Carta.