After repealing the hated Stamp Act in 1766, the British Parliament passed the Declaratory Act, asserting Great Britain's full power and authority over the American colonies. In response a group of American women calling themselves the Daughters of Liberty led boycotts of English goods. Listen for more!

Center for Civic Education

The Townshend Acts are a now-infamous group of duties passed by Parliament in June 1767. They levied new taxes on items imported from Britain, which came with significant consequences. Learn more in today's episode!

Center for Civic Education

The Stamp Act Congress was held in October 1765 in New York to coordinate colonial resistance to the unpopular Stamp Act, which required nearly every important document printed in the colonies to be taxed. Hear more about this significant occurrence in today's episode!

Center for Civic Education

Opposition to the Stamp Act prompted American colonists to organize. The Sons of Liberty was one group created to resist the Stamp Act inspired by the words of Isaac Barre. Learn more about this group in today's episode!

Center for Civic Education

The American colonists were already unhappy with the British about the Proclamation of 1763. But then they took another step that angered Americans. In 1764, Parliament passed the Sugar Act. Learn more in today's episode!

Center for Civic Education

Britain increased its control over the American colonies after 1763 following its victory over the French in the Seven Years' War, including with acts such as the Proclamation of 1763. Learn more about the implications of this in today's episode!

Center for Civic Education

For more than 150 years before 1776, the American colonists had grown used to little direct interference by Parliament in colonial affairs. This policy was known as "salutary neglect," but changes to this policy would initiate the focus of our new series: The Road to Independence!

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The Declaration of Independence states that among the "truths" that Americans hold to be "self-evident" is that "all Men are created equal." But what did Thomas Jefferson mean by this statement?

Center for Civic Education

Thomas Jefferson said that his purpose in writing the Declaration of Independence was to express a shared understanding of "the American mind." Over the course of a few days in June 1776, Jefferson laid out the most fundamental principles and central political beliefs of the American Revolution and of the people the Revolution created.

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In the American colonies, the right to vote followed the British model: only free adult males who owned a certain amount of property could vote, though there were limited exceptions to this rule. Listen to learn more!

Center for Civic Education