# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division/New York Public Library (Image no. 435005)

The British king issued a royal decree in 1763 to manage Great Britain's lands in North America. With its recent victory in the French and Indian War, Britain had acquired a vast territory from France. The Proclamation of 1763 drew a line along the Appalachian Mountains and prohibited British colonists from settling west of it. The proclamation was intended partly to help Britain control its new lands, but it was especially notable for acknowledging the rights of the American Indians who already occupied the territory. The law became a cornerstone of Native American law in the United States and in Canada.

The treaty that ended the French and Indian War made Britain the ruler of Canada and of the land between the Appalachians and the Mississippi River. Settlers from Britain's eastern colonies flooded into the Ohio River valley, invading American Indian lands. In response, the Ottawa leader Pontiac united the Indian tribes in resistance against the British. They attacked and captured a number of British settlements in what became known as Pontiac's War.

The conflict on the frontier led George III, the king of Great Britain, to issue a royal proclamation on October 7, 1763. The proclamation organized four new British territories in America: Quebec, East and West Florida, and Grenada (in the West Indies). But it also created a vast British-administered American Indian reservation west of the Appalachians. It forbade settlement on that territory, ordered any settlers already there to withdraw, and strictly limited future settlement. For the first time in the history of European colonization in the Americas, the proclamation formalized the concept of American Indian land titles, or ownership. It prohibited the colonists from disturbing any land claimed by a tribe unless the Indians had willingly given up ownership by selling the land or signing a treaty.

The proclamation acknowledged that "great frauds and abuses have been committed in purchasing lands of the Indians." In an effort to prevent such abuses, the proclamation stated that from then on "no private person" could buy land reserved for American Indians. It required that future land purchases be made only by government officials in a public meeting.

The colonists strongly objected to the Proclamation of 1763. They resented that the British government was restricting their settlements and taking control of the west out of their hands. Colonial anger over the proclamation helped spark the 12-year crisis that led to the American Revolution. In the short term, the proclamation did little to stem the tide of westward expansion. Many pioneers simply ignored the proclamation as they continued to push westward, leading to decades of warfare with American Indians.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The British king issued a royal decree in 1763 to manage Great Britain's lands in North America. With its recent victory in the French and Indian War, Britain had acquired a vast territory from France. The Proclamation of 1763 drew a line along the Appalachian Mountains and prohibited British colonists from settling west of it.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This articles describes the impact of the Sugar Act of 1764.

The Sugar Act of 1764 was a British law passed by the British government in order to raise revenue from the American colonies. The law placed a tax on sugar and other goods imported into the colonies, and was intended to help pay off the large debt the British government had accumulated during the French and Indian War.

The Sugar Act was a significant change from previous British trade policies towards the American colonies, which had largely been based on a lack of enforcement. Under this policy, the British government had largely left the colonies to govern themselves, and had not imposed many taxes or trade restrictions on them.

The Sugar Act was met with widespread opposition in the colonies, as many colonists felt that it was a violation of their rights as British subjects. They argued that they should not be taxed without their consent, and that the tax would hurt their economic interests.

The Sugar Act led to a significant increase in smuggling and other forms of resistance in the colonies. Many colonists began to evade the tax by importing goods through illegal channels, and others began to organize protests and boycotts against the law.

The Sugar Act was also one of the first steps in a series of British actions that would eventually lead to the American Revolution. The law, along with the Quartering Act of 1774 and the Stamp Act of 1765, contributed to growing resentment and anger towards the British government among the colonists, which ultimately led to the decision to break away from British rule

Overall, The Sugar Act of 1764 was a significant event in the history of the British colonies in America. The law, which placed a tax on sugar and other goods imported into the colonies, helped to raise revenue for the British government but also met with widespread opposition and resistance among the colonists, and also led to a series of actions that would eventually lead to the American Revolution.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This articles describes the 1764 Sugar Act

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn about the The Stamp Act of 1765. A tax the Britain placed on the American colonies eventually leading the Revolutionary War.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Townshend Acts - Definition, Facts & Purpose | HISTORY

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Townshend Acts were a series of unpopular measures, passed by the British Parliament in 1767, that taxed goods imported to the American colonies. The laws heightened the tensions between Great Britain and the American colonists and were a precursor to the Revolutionary War.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Coercive Acts of 1774, known as the Intolerable Acts in the American colonies, were a series of four laws passed by the British Parliament to punish the colony of Massachusetts Bay for the Boston Tea Party. The four acts were the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, and the Quartering Act. The Quebec Act of 1774 is sometimes included as one of the Coercive Acts, although it was not related to the Boston Tea Party. These oppressive acts sparked strong colonial resistance, including the meeting of the First Continental Congress, which George Washington attended in September and October 1774.

The Boston Port Act was the first of the Coercive Acts. Parliament passed the bill on March 31, 1774, and King George III gave it royal assent on May 20 th. The act authorized the Royal Navy to blockade Boston Harbor because "the commerce of his Majesty's subjects cannot be safely carried on there."1 The blockade commenced on June 1, 1774, effectively closing Boston's port to commercial traffic. Additionally, it forbade any exports to foreign ports or provinces. The only imports allowed were provisions for the British Army and necessary goods, such as fuel and wheat. The Act mandated that the port remain shuttered until Bostonians made restitution to the East India Company (the owners of the destroyed tea), the king had determined that the colony was able to obey British laws, and that British goods once again could be traded in the harbor safely. However, if the Bostonians refused to pay the East India Company or the king remained unsatisfied, the harbor would be blockaded indefinitely.

The Massachusetts Government Act imperiled representative government in the colony. Assuming that Massachusetts was under mob rule, and to "[preserve] . . . the peace and good order of the said province," Parliament passed the act on May 20, 1774. It received royal assent on the same day.The Massachusetts Council, previously constituted as an elected body with the governor's approval, became appointed by the crown. Additionally, the Act gave the new royal governor the ability to choose judges and county sheriffs without the Council's approval. County sheriffs could now also appoint jurors, harming the impartiality of the colony's judicial system. The Government Act also restricted town meetings to once a year, with any additional meetings requiring the governor's approval.

The Act for the Impartial Administration of Justice gained the king's approval on the same day as the Massachusetts Government Act. This law sought to further increase the power of the governor by giving him the ability to move a trial to another colony or Great Britain if it was determined "that an indifferent trial cannot be had within the said province."The Act eliminated the right to a fair trial by one's peers, removing an established judicial principle dating to Magna Carta.

The Quartering Act was the fourth and final of the main Coercive Acts. It was given royal assent on June 2, 1774. The only act of the four to apply to all of the colonies, it allowed high-ranking military officials to demand better accommodations for troops and to refuse inconvenient locations for quarters. The inability to effectively house troops in North America had been a long-standing issue. Troops were often billeted far from the areas in which they operated, making it difficult for the army to exercise effective control over the colonists. However, the Act did not require colonists to house soldiers within their private homes, as is commonly believed. Rather, it specifically indicated that soldiers were to be housed in "uninhabited houses, out-houses, barns, or other buildings," yet they were to be quartered at the colonists' expense.

The Quebec Act, sometimes included as one of the four Coercive Acts, was under consideration by Parliament before the Boston Tea Party. It became law soon after the legislation to punish Massachusetts was enacted. Also known as the Canada Act, the law extended the borders of the province of Quebec southward to the Ohio River. The Act also granted "the free Exercise of the Religion of the Church of Rome," as the territory was home to a large French Catholic majority.While also instituting English criminal law, the act allowed French civil law to remain in place, which excluded trial by jury. The governor and legislative body established by the Quebec Act were crown-appointed positions with complete authority over the colony. At a time of widespread religious intolerance, many Protestant colonists shuddered at the prospect of tolerating Catholicism in North America.

The Coercive Acts were meant to break Massachusetts Bay and to warn the other colonies of the consequences of rebellious behavior. Each act was specifically designed to cause severe damage to a particular aspect of colonial life. The Boston Port Bill's assault on colonial trade damaged the provincial economy, drove up unemployment, and starved the Boston people. The Government Act abolished representative government by establishing an all-powerful governor, and the Justice Act removed the right to a fair trial. The Quartering Act insured the close proximity of British troops to the colonists. Finally, the Quebec Act challenged some of the major reasons that colonists had fought in the French and Indian War-to defend and expand Protestantism and representative government in North America.

Understandably, colonists did not approve of the Coercive Acts. Yet, the petitioning of Parliament by individual colonies had already proved futile. On July 4, 1774, George Washington asked his friend Bryan Fairfax, "have we not addressed the Lords, and remonstrated to the Commons?" Thus, the First Continental Congress met on September 5, 1774, to coordinate a colonial response to Parliament's actions. While attending the Congress, Washington advocated for what he called "the non-importation scheme," or the boycott of British imports, which was similar to the Fairfax Resolves that he had earlier co-authored with George Mason. The Coercive Acts caused a clear shift in American public opinion. Where Washington had once questioned the radical Boston Tea Party, conceding "that we [do not] approve their conduct in destroying the Tea," he now fully rallied behind the Bostonians, as he understood that the Coercive Acts threatened American liberty.

Parliament did not anticipate the colonies coming to Boston's defense, and with good reason, as this was the first instance of mass colonial unification. Unlike previous controversial legislation, such as the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767, Parliament did not repeal the Coercive Acts. Hence, Parliament's intolerable policies sowed the seeds of American rebellion and led to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in April 1775.

Caroline Eisenhuth
The George Washington University
Notes:
1. "The Boston Port Act: March 31, 1774." Avalon Project - Great Britain: Parliament. Yale University, Lilian Goldman Law Library. Accessed October 29, 2018. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/boston_port_act.asp.

2. "The Massachusetts Government Act: May 20, 1774." Avalon Project - Great Britain: Parliament. Yale University, Lilian Goldman Law Library. Accessed October 29, 2018. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/mass_gov_act.asp.

3. "The Administration of Justice Act: May 20, 1774." Avalon Project - Great Britain: Parliament. Yale University, Lilian Goldman Law Library. Accessed October 29, 2018. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/admin_of_justice_act.asp.

4."The Quartering Act: June 2, 1774." Avalon Project - Great Britain: Parliament. Yale University, Lilian Goldman Law Library. Accessed October 29, 2018. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/quartering_act_1774.asp.

5. "The Quebec Act: October 7, 1774." Avalon Project - Great Britain: Parliament. Yale University, Lilian Goldman Law Library. Accessed October 29, 2018. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/quebec_act_1774.asp.

6. George Washington to Bryan Fairfax, 4 July 1774, Founders Online, National Archives, last modified June 13, 2018, http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/02-10-02-0075.

7. Ibid.

8. George Washington to George William Fairfax, 10-15 June 1774, Founders Online, National Archives, last modified June 13, 2018, http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/02-10-02-0067.
Bibliography:
Ammerman, David. In the Common Cause: American Response to the Coercive Acts of 1774. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1974.

Beck, Derek W. Igniting the American Revolution: 1773-1775. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2016.

McCurdy, John Gilbert. Quarters: The Accommodation of the British Army and the Coming of the American Revolution. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2019.

Middlekauff, Robert. Washington's Revolution: The Making of America's First Leader. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2015.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Coercive Acts of 1774, known as the Intolerable Acts in the American colonies, were a series of four laws passed by the British Parliament to punish the colony of Massachusetts Bay for the Boston Tea Party.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Rhode Island Colonists led by John Brown burn the British revenue cutter Gaspee The British had an empire to run. The prevailing economic philosophy of seventeenth and eighteenth century empires was called mercantilism. In this system, the colonies existed to enrich the mother country.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn about the Sons of Liberty of the American Revolution including how they got their name, important members, protests, the Stamp Act, the Boston Tea Party, and interesting facts.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Mark Maloy Mark Maloy is a historian currently working for the National Park Service in Virginia.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
One of the most striking images from the lead up to the American Revolution is the image of tax collectors and loyalists being tarred and feathered by American…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The incident known as the Boston Tea Party occurred in December 1773 when a group of colonists from Boston boarded ships owned by the British East India Company and threw chests of tea into Boston Harbor. The colonists were revolting against a tea tax and the persistent efforts of Great Britain to legislate taxes without colonial representation in the British Parliament.

In 1767 Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, which levied taxes on British commodities imported in the colonies. In opposition to these measures colonial merchants boycotted British imports, and citizens staged riots in the streets. By 1770 colonial resistance to the taxes was so strong that Parliament repealed all of the Townshend Acts except for a tax on tea.

To evade the tea tax, merchants in Boston bought tea smuggled into the colonies by Dutch traders. In 1773 Parliament passed the Tea Act, which gave the East India Company exclusive rights to export tea to the colonies. The company was having financial problems and had a surplus of tea that needed to be sold.

The Tea Act granted the East India Company a monopoly on all tea exported to the colonies and exempted the company from an export tax. The company carried the tea in its own ships and sold the tea through its own agents, which enabled it to sell the tea at a lower price than its competitors.

In cities such as New York and Philadelphia, colonial merchants resisted the East India Company's monopoly on tea exports by canceling orders and refusing consignments. In Boston the royal governor, Thomas Hutchinson, allowed three East India Company ships to unload their cargoes of tea and required that the Boston merchants pay the appropriate taxes for the shipments.

On the night of Dec. 16, 1773, a group of nearly 60 colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded these ships and tossed 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor to protest the taxes and the monopoly. Great Britain reacted to this event by instituting a series of punitive measures in the colonies known as the Intolerable Acts.

One such act was the Boston Port Act, which closed Boston Harbor to trade until payment was made for the destroyed tea. Great Britain continued to impose strict control over the colonies with oppressive laws and taxes that created further hostilities toward the British government.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The incident known as the Boston Tea Party occurred in December 1773 when a group of colonists from Boston boarded ships owned by the British East India Company and threw chests of tea into Boston Harbor. The colonists were revolting against a tea tax and the persistent efforts of Great Britain to legislate taxes without colonial representation in the British Parliament.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
For Kids: By 1770, although some colonists were still loyal to the crown, many others were upset about the taxes and the troops and the disregard the British Parliament had shown for the needs of the American colonists. Jobs were lost. British troops were arrogant. And monies were tight. Taxation without representation was the cry heard everywhere. Tension was growing.

Fights often broke out between the British soldiers and the colonists. On March 5, 1770, a group of sailors threw snowballs and sticks at a group of British soldiers. Things got crazy. A club was thrown. The British felt threatened. They fired into the crown. When it was over, five colonial men were dead, including Crispus Attucks . He was the first man to die in what would soon become the Revolutionary War. This incident was called the Boston Massacre.

The British officers involved were arrested for murder by the colonial government in Boston. The officers pleaded self-defense, and the jury agreed. They were not charged with murder. However, two British soldiers were charged with manslaughter. Their hands were branded, burned, and then they were released. To the British, that was it. It was over. To the colonists, not so much.

This incident became a propaganda tool for colonists who were unhappy with the way Britain was treating the colonists. About three weeks after the massacre, Paul Revere distributed prints from an etching he made that showed the British as the aggressors in the Boston Massacre. Paul Revere hired an artist to draw the illustration. He created the etching from the artist's drawing. It was very effective. It was also misleading. It showed the British shooting muskets into a group of innocent colonists, with clouds of smoke and bloodied bodies on the ground. There is a small dog in the front middle of the picture that appeared unharmed, perhaps to imply the British treated the colonists worse than dogs. Blown up to its actual size and in its entirety, you can see even more detail: Paul Revere image, Boston Massacre

In truth, according to witnesses at the trial of the British, it was the colonists who threw snowballs and waved sticks and swung clubs. In colonial law as well as in British law, you had the right to defend yourself if you felt yourself threatened. The British most certainly felt threatened. Still, snowballs vs. musket balls? It was a mess.

After the Boston Massacre, British Parliament repealed all taxes except the one on tea.

The colonists heaved a sign of relief. Most merchants stopped their boycott of British goods. But colonial leaders were still unhappy with the way the British were treating the colonists. They did not believe that British Parliament had the colonists best interests at heart.

Liberty Kids: John Adams and the Boston Massacre (cartoon video)

The Boston Massacre for Kids, interactives
Quiz: Causes of the American Revolution, interactive
What came before: The Townshend Acts, 1767

What came after: The Boston Tea Party, 1773

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The American Revolution for Kids - Boston Massacre

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For Kids: By 1770, although some colonists were still loyal to the crown, many others were upset about the taxes and the troops and the disregard the British Parliament had shown for the needs of the American colonists. Jobs were lost. British troops were arrogant. And monies were tight.