ion. A British investigation failed to find the culprits.
17/4/1772, Archibald Alexander, US Presbyterian clergyman, was born in Virginia (died 22/10/1851 in Princeton, New Jersey).
12/4/1770. The British Parliament repealed all the taxes on the colonies imposed by Charles Townshend except the tea tax.
5/3/1770. British troops opened fire on a crowd in Boston, Massachusetts, killing five. A crowd had gathered to harass a sentinel on King (now State) street, and he called for help; the troops he called upon fired, killing several men. This incident, later called the Boston Massacre, contributes to the unpopularity of the British regime in America in the years before the American Revolution (see 24/3/1765). Previously, local sailors and workers had harassed British troops quartered in Boston, and the troops were ordered to open fire. See 16/12/1773 and 17/3/1776.
28/1/1770, Lord North, Earl of Guildford, became Prime Minister in Britain. To conciliate the American colonists he abolished all import duties, except the one on tea. This was to establish the British right to tax Americans, see 12/4/1770.
19/1/1770. The Battle of Golden Hill. A group on New Yorkers called the Sons of Liberty engage British troops in pitched battle over British demands for compliance with the Quartering Act.
1/10/1768. Lord Hillsborough, British Secretary of State for the Colonies, sent two regiments to Boston to quell unrest caused by the Stamp Acts.
28/10/1767. Boston led a revival of the boycott of British goods. See 16/12/1773.
4/3/1766. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act which had caused bitter disputes in the colonies, especially North America..
26/8/1765. A major riot broke out in Boston, USA against the Stamp Act. Rioters attacked the house of Thomas Hutchinson, the lieutenant –governor, and burned the house, including the library. Thus many irreplaceable sources of Massachusetts history were lost.
24/3/1765. Britain passed the Quartering Act (see 2/6/1774) requiring the colonies to provide food and shelter for British soldiers and their horses. In 1765 the passage of the Stamp Act, to raise revenue for British troops in North America (fighting the French), caused widespread riots and protests in British colonies and the boycott of British luxury goods was stepped up. The British Treasury had a major deficit following the wars in North America with the Indians and the French. The Stamp Act raised revenue by requiring stamps to be fixed to items like newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents such as deeds and licences, and to other items such as playing cards. William Pitt was amongst those in Parliament opposing the Stamp Act, warning that trade with the colonies would suffer.
25/4/1764. The lawyer James Otis denounced ‘taxation without representation’ and called on the colonies to unite against Britain’s new tax measures. In August 1764 Boston merchants began to boycott luxury goods from Britain.
5/4/1764. Parliament in London passed a Sugar Act, specifically aimed at extracting revenue from the colonies. On 19/4/1764 London also passed the Currency Act, forbidding the colonies from printing paper money.
15/2/1764, The city of St Louis, Missouri, was founded as a trading post between Europeans and Indians.
20/5/1759, William Thornton, US architect who designed the Capitol at Washington, was born.
1/5/1759, Jacob Albright, US clergyman, was born near Pottstown, Pennsylvania (died 18/5/1808 in Muhlbach, Pennsylvania).
25/11/1758, The British captured Fort Duquesne (later, Pittsburgh) from the French.
16/10/1758, Birth of Noah Webster, lexicographer who produced the first American dictionary.
16/10/1756, Noah Webster, American lexicographer who wrote Webster’s Dictionary, was born in West Hartford, Connecticut.
9/7/1755, General Braddock’s troops were attacked by a joint force of French and Indians near Fort Duquesne.
8/7/1755. Britain and France broke off diplomatic relations as their dispute over North America deepened.
6/6/1755, Nathan Hale, American revolutionary who was hanged for spying on the British, was born.
11/1/1755, Alexander Hamil