1764 Sugar Act passed by Parliament as a means of raising revenue from the American colonists. An accompanying act provides a means of more effective enforcement of existing acts. 1764 Committee of correspondence formed by Massachusetts House of Representatives to communicate common grievances with other colonies. 1765 Stamp Act - a direct tax on all printed material in the American colonies. Colonists protest act through mob action, boycotts of British goods, the Stamp Act Congress, etc.
Many colonists refuse to pay the tax.
1765 Quartering Act - requires colonies to house British troops in the American colonies. 1765 Stamp Act Congress meets and protests taxation without representation and other British measures as violations of the colonists rights as British citizens. 1766 Stamp Act repealed by Parliament on same day that it passes the Declaratory Act. Several colonial legislatures protest the acts. 1770 Boston Massacre - British troops fire on a belligerent Boston mob.