The British had a lot of debt to pay off after the war with France. They decided to tax the Americans to pay off that debt. The first law that was passed was the Stamp Act. Printed materials must bear a tax stamp provided by commissioned distributors who would collect the tax in exchange for the stamp.
The Boston Tea Party (December 1773)
The British passed a legislation to tax goods that the Americans imported from Great Britain. Americans struck back by organizing a boycott of the British goods that were subject taxation and began harassing the British customs commissioners.
The Coercive Act (March-June 1774)
One late afternoon, a disagreement between an apprentice wigmaker and a British soldier led to a crowd of 200 colonists surrounding seven British troops. Americans started to throw things at them and the soldiers lost their cool and began firing into the crowd. Three men died including Crispus Attucks.
Lexington and Concord (April 1775)
We are surrounded. Retreat!
The Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawks and they boarded three ships in Boston harbor and destroyed more than 92,000 pounds of British tea by dumping it into the harbor. They did this because of the new Tea Act. The act gave the British favorable treatment under tax regulations, so that it could sell tea at a price that undercut the American merchants who imported from Dutch traders.
In response to the Boston Tea Party, the British government passed the Coercive Act. This closed Boston Harbor until restitution was paid for the destroyed tea.
The British wanted to capture Sam Adams and John Hancock, but American spies found out and they spread the word. On the Lexington Common, the British force was confronted by 77 American militiamen, and they began shooting at each other. Seven Americans died, but other militiamen managed to stop the British at Concord and continued to harass them on their retreat back to Boston.