Portraits of Politics

Patrick Henry introducing the Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions to the House of Burgesses in 1765

QUICK FACTS

           

Great Britain

Prime Ministers

  • George Grenville, 16 Apr 1763 – 13 Jul 1765
  • Marquess of Rockingham, 13 Jul 1765 – 30 Jul 1766
  • William Pitt, 30 July 1766 – 14 October 1768
  • Duke of Grafton, 14 October 1768 – 28 January 1770
  • Lord North, 28 Jan 1770 - 20 Mar 1782
  • Marquess of Rockingham, 27 Mar 1782 – 1 Jul 1782
  • Earl of Shelburne, 4 Jul 1782 – 2 Apr 1783
  • Duke of Portland, 2 Apr 1783 – 19 Dec 1783

Secretarys of State for the American Department

British Legislation

  • Proclamation of 1763
  • American Duties Act of 1764 (Sugar Act)
  • Currency Act of 1764
  • Stamp Act (1765)
  • Quartering Act of 1765
  • Repeal of the Stamp Act (1766)
  • Declaratory Act (1766)
  • Townshend Acts (1767)
    • Revenue Act
    • Indemnity Act
  • Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts; 1774)
    • Boston Port Act
    • Massachusetts Government Act
    • Administration of Justice Act
    • Quartering Act of 1774
    • Quebec Act

American Colonies

The Colonial Response

The press was the mass medium of the eighteenth century, the only way to bring both news and commentary to a broad public audience. The popularity of newspapers soared in Revolutionary America: By the late 1780s, the United States had about ninety-five newspapers, over twice the number at the time of independence. Moreover, the newspapers of 1776 were weeklies, but those of 1787 we often published two or three times a week. There were even a few that appeared daily to satisfy the hungry reading public.

Pauline Maier
Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787—1788 (2010)