Time Line for the Decade of Protest: 1765-1776
- 1754-1755 French and Indian Wars fought in America
- 1756-1763 Seven Years War (Prussia, Great Britain,
Spain, France fighting on the continent)
- George II died October 25, 1760; succeeded by his
grandson George III
- February 1761: James Otis and Oxenbridge Thatcher
argue against the Writs of Assistance. They are successful in delaying the
granting of the writs. In the end Parliament gave the power of granting writs
to the Supreme Court in each colony.
- March 1765 The Stamp Act is passed
- May 1765, The Quartering Act is passed requiring colonies
to pay for the housing and feeding of British troops in the colonies.
- October 1765 The Stamp Act Congress meets and creates
the non-importation agreement; (Dulany's pamphlet)
- March 1766 The Stamp Act is repealed with the Declaratory
Act attached.
- June 1767, The Townshend Acts passed (Townshend duties,
in July Townshend passed another plank, the suspension of the NY legislature.)
- Dec. 1767-early 1768 Dickinson's letters
- Sept. 1768 more British troops arrive in Boston
- 1770 Townshend Acts are repealed
- March 1770, The Boston Massacre
- 1773, May British pass the Tea Act/ December 16, Boston
Tea Party
- Spring 1774, The Coercive Acts are passed to punish
Boston
- Sept.-Oct. 1774, The First Continental Congress meets
in Philadelphia
- 1774 James Wilson's Considerations on the Nature
and Extent of the Legislative Authority of the British Parliament, and
Thomas Jefferson, A Summary View of the Rights of British America
- April 19, 1775 Lexington and Concord
- May 10, 1775, The Second Continental Congress convenes
- January 1776, Thomas Paine, Common Sense
- July 2, 1776 vote for Independence and July 4, the
Declaration of Independence is released.
For Additional Sources of Timelines and historical resources on the
period leading up to the revolution, check out The
History Place.