EVENTS LEADING TO TENSION BETWEEN COLONIES AND ENGLAND


EVENTS LEADING TO COLONIAL UNREST

DIRECTIONS: In the first box, write what happened during the event. Use prompts there to help you write a complete answer. In the second box, answer the question: why were colonists upset by the event? Leave the rating box BLANK.

Event / What Happened / Reasons Event Upset Colonists / Rating
Proclamation of 1763
Quartering Act – 1765
Stamp Act - 1765 / Describe the Act –
How the Colonists Responded –
Townshend Act - 1767 / Describe the Act –
How the Colonists Responded –
Event / What Happened / Reasons Event Upset Colonists / Rating
Boston Massacre - 1770 / Incident –
Colonists’ Request –
England’s Reaction –
Boston Tea Party – 1773 / England’s Action –
Colonists’ Reaction –
Intolerable Acts – 1774 / Three Parts of the Act –
First Continental Congress - 1774 / What the Congress Was –
Three Accomplishments of the Congress –
Lexington and Concord - 1775 / British Plan –
Colonists Two Responses –

EVENTS LEADING TO COLONIAL UNREST

DIRECTIONS: In the first box, write what happened during the event. In the second box, answer the question: why were colonists upset by the event? Leave the rating box BLANK.

Event / What Happened / Reasons Event Upset Colonists / Rating
Proclamation of 1763 /
  • British told colonists they could not move to land won during the French and Indian War.
  • British did not want conflict with the Native Americans.
/
  • Colonists were upset because they couldn’t move west even though they helped the British fight for the land.
  • The British were increasing the amount that they controlled the colonists.

Quartering Act – 1765 /
  • Colonists were required to have British soldiers stay in their homes.
  • Colonists had to provide goods and transportation to the soldiers.
/
  • Colonists thought the troops were going to spy on them and control them.
  • The colonists felt angry over the invasion of privacy in their homes.

Stamp Act - 1765 /
  • Tax on printed materials designed to pay for England’s debt from the French and Indian War.
  • Groups boycotted British goods.
  • Representatives from the colonies requested that Britain remove the tax; Britain eventually removed the tax.
/
  • Colonists were angry about taxation without representation. They wanted a say in laws that affected them.

Townshend Act - 1767 /
  • British Prime Minister (Townshend) put a tax on goods as they came into port.
  • Townshend hoped colonists wouldn’t notice the tax.
  • Colonists organized a boycott again.
/
  • This is another example of taxation without representation.

Event / What Happened / Reasons Event Upset Colonists / Rating
Boston Massacre - 1770 /
  • Incident – Colonists harassed British troops by throwing snowballs. Troops opened fire and killed 5 colonists.
  • Colonists’ Request – Put the troops on trial for murder.
  • England’s Reaction – England put the troops on trial.
/
  • Colonists were angry because the British military used deadly force in response to snowballs.
  • The colonists didn’t want troops there in the first place.

Boston Tea Party – 1773 /
  • England’s Action – England passed a law that the colonies could only buy tea from one British company.
  • Colonists’ Reaction – Sons of Liberty dressed as Native Americans and dumped tea into the water.
/
  • England made another decision without the colonists.

Intolerable Acts – 1774 / Three Parts of the Act –
  1. Colonists had to pay for the tea destroyed in the Tea Party.
  2. Closed the port of Boston.
  3. Put Massachusetts under military rule.
/
  • England cracked down on colonial rights.
  • Colonists in Massachusetts had to deal with the military every day.

First Continental Congress - 1774 /
  • What the Congress Was – a meeting of representatives from different colonies
  • Three Accomplishments of the Congress –
  1. wrote the Declaration of Rights
  2. voted to stop all trade with England
  3. sent complaints in a letter to England
/
  • Colonists were so angry that they set up a meeting between the colonies.
  • They felt so strongly about their cause that they tarred and feathered anyone who wouldn’t go along with the boycott of British goods.

Lexington and Concord - 1775 /
  • British Plan – get the colonists’ gunpowder and capture rebel leaders
  • Colonists Two Responses –
  1. Colonial Minutemen fought British soldiers
  2. Second Continental Congress met and wrote a new letter to the King of England.
/
  • Unrest had been building for over 10 years at this point.
  • The colonists were upset because England was attempting to capture their weapons and leaders.