1763 Declared colonists could not move west of the Appalachian Mountains in order to prevent more conflict with the Native Americans and keep colonists on the coast where the British could control them.

March 5, 1770 A tragic encounter between frustrated Bostonians and British soldiers that led to the killing of five colonists after the British soldiers fired on the angry colonists.

1767 After realizing the colonists could resist internal taxes, the British passed this act that taxed imported commodities such as glass, tea, and paper. The tax was paid when the goods arrived-- before they were brought inside the colonies.

December 16, 1773 In protest of the Tea Act, the Sons of Liberty organized and, dressed as Native Americans, threw 342 chests of British East India Company tea into Boston Harbor ruining the shipment and enraging the British government.

The political group organized by Samuel Adams in response to the Stamp Act. This group was responsible for burning effigies of unpopular tax collectors, spreading anti-British propaganda, and organizing protests against British policies during the Revolutionary Era.

1774: In response to the colonists' disobedience and destruction caused by the Boston Tea Party, British Parliament passed a series of acts meant to punish the colonists. These acts forced the colonists to allow British soldiers to live among them, banned town meetings in Massachusetts, and closed Boston Harbor until colonists paid for the ruined tea.

1754-1763 War fought by the English colonists and English against the French and their Native American allies over a land dispute regarding the Ohio River Valley. Ended with the Treaty of Paris of 1763 that marked the end of French power in North America and a series of effects that strained the colonists' relationship with Britain.

March 1765: A law that taxed almost all printed materials. Newspapers, wills, and even playing cards needed a stamp to show that the tax had been paid.

May 1773: In order to protect the British economy and encouraged colonists to buy tea, the British Parliament passed this act which lowered the tax on tea making it less expensive.

1772: Revived by Samuel Adams, this group circulated calls for action against and resistance to Britain.

1765: The Act that required the colonies to provide quarter, or housing, for British soldiers. Already objecting to the presence of the troops, the colonists resented having to pay for housing and feeding those soldiers. Britain eventually repealed the act, but it would be revived later in another act.

March 1766: Angry with the colonists' protests and boycotts, British Parliament passed this act that declared it had the right to tax and make decisions for the colonies "in all cases."

1764: In response the colonists' smuggling activity, Parliament passed this act that lowered the tax on the molasses the colonists imported. The act also allowed officers to seize goods from accused smugglers without going to court. The colonists believed this act violated their rights of trial by jury and being secure in their homes.

October 1765: Deciding to work together, colonial delegates met to draft a statement to the British King and Parliament. In this statement, they declared that only colonial assemblies could tax the colonists saying that the actions of the British government "subvert[ed] the rights and liberties of the colonists."

September 1774: A meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 British colonies that became the United States. The delegates discussed how the colonies could unite and respond to the British government's coercive/intolerable acts.

April 19, 1775: The first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War, fought in these Massachusetts towns.