Complex sentence: Starting in 1765 the Americans rejected the authority of the British Parliament to tax them; protests continued to escalate, as in the Boston Tea Party of 1773, and the British responded by imposing punitive laws--the Coercive Acts--on Massachusetts in 1774.
Split into simpler sentences: Starting in 1765, members of American colonial society rejected the authority of the British Parliament to tax them. During the following decade protests by rebellious colonists-known as patriots-continued to escalate, as in the Boston Tea Party of 1773 and the British responded by imposing punitive laws--the Coercive Acts--on Massachusetts in 1774.