The Sugar Act of 1764 was one of the earliest British tax laws that angered colonists because it raised the cost of imported goods like molasses and sugar.

Boycotts meant colonists refused to purchase British products, which hurt British merchants and pressured Parliament to repeal unfair tax laws.

The Quartering Act forced colonists to let British soldiers stay in their homes and provide them with food, which colonists saw as a violation of their rights.

Samuel Adams helped organize colonial resistance to British taxes and was one of the key voices calling for independence long before the war began.

Delegates from twelve colonies gathered in Philadelphia to discuss how to respond to the Intolerable Acts and to organize a united protest against Britain.

British soldiers fired into a crowd of angry colonists, killing five people. Colonists called it a massacre to show how unfairly Britain was treating them.

Crispus Attucks, a man of African and Native American heritage, is remembered as one of the first people to give his life in the cause of American freedom.

The Committees of Correspondence were letter-writing networks that let colonies quickly share information and coordinate their responses to British laws.

Common Sense used plain, powerful language to argue that it was only logical for the colonies to break free from British rule, and it convinced many colonists to support independence.

Each act targeted colonists differently: the Stamp Act taxed printed materials; the Tea Act gave one company a monopoly on tea sales; the Quartering Act made colonists shelter British soldiers; and the Intolerable Acts punished Massachusetts for the Tea Party.