3.1The road to rebellion

Victory in the Seven Years' War left Britain deep in debt and eager to make the colonies help pay for their own defense. Parliament imposed new taxes—the Stamp Act (1765), the Townshend duties, and later a tax on tea. Colonists, accustomed to taxing themselves through their assemblies, objected fiercely to "taxation without representation."

Protest escalated from petitions and boycotts to violence, including the Boston Massacre (1770) and the Boston Tea Party (1773). Britain answered with the Coercive Acts, closing Boston's port and tightening control. In 1774 the colonies convened a Continental Congress to coordinate resistance. What began as a dispute over taxes was becoming a debate over the very nature of authority.