| 1760 |
 |
George III becomes King of Great Britain, Ireland, and the 1.6 million colonists living in America. |
|  | Benjamin Franklin invents the first bifocal lenses for eye glasses. |
| 1761 |
|
Massachusetts lawyer James Otis opposes the Writs of Assistance, general search warrants that allowed British customs men to invade the homes and warehouses of the American colonists to search for smuggled goods. |
| 1762 |
 |
Ethan Allen establishes an ironworks and blast furnace in Salisbury, Connecticut. This ironworks will produce many of the cannons used by the American colonists during the Revolutionary War. |
| 1763 |
|
French and Indian War ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Canada and all of the North American territory east of the Mississippi come under the control of the British. |
|  |
The Proclamation of 1763 forbids the American colonists to settle the land beyond the Appalachian Mountains. |
| 1764 |
|
The British government begins to levy taxes on the colonists to help pay the cost of the French and Indian War and the ongoing protection of the American colonies. The Sugar Act places new taxes on sugar, wines, coffee, indigo and other products imported directly to America. |
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The oldest continuously published newspaper in America, The Connecticut Courant, begins publishing as a weekly newspaper in Hartford, Connecticut. |
| 1765 |
 |
British Parliament passes the Stamp Act, levying a tax on all newspapers, legal documents, pamphlets, almanacs and playing cards by requiring that they bear a stamp. |
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|
Philadelphia, with its agricultural exports, shipbuilding and iron forging, is the leading economic center of the American colonies. |
|
 |
James Watt, a 29-year old
Scotsman, designs a steam engine that produces power much more efficiently
than the Newcomen engine of 1712. This invention will have a major impact
on the Industrial Revolution. |
| 1766 |
|
British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act after American colonists stop buying British goods in protest against the taxes. |
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British Parliament passes the Declaratory Act, asserting its "full power and authority" to make any laws it wishes concerning the American colonies. |
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Freedmen's Bureau is established to aid freed African Americans. |
| 1767 |
|
Through the Townshend duties, British Parliament places a tax on tea, paper, glass and paint imported into the colonies. Colonists immediately begin another boycott of British goods and begin to look for ways to increase manufacturing in the colonies. |
|
 |
David Rittenhouse, a Philadelphia clockmaker, builds the first planetarium in America. Two years later, he plots the orbits of Venus and Mercury. |
| 1768 |
|
British troops sail to Boston, and two regiments come ashore to take up quarters in the city. |
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The Massachusetts General Court sends a "Circular Letter" to legislators in the other American colonies. This letter states that Parliament had no right to tax the colonists without representation and asks for the support of the other colonies in resisting the Townshend duties. |
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A newspaper, the Boston Gazette, publishes "The Liberty Song," possibly America's first patriotic song. |
| 1769 |
|
Daniel Boone--ignoring the Proclamation of 1763 prohibiting settlers from crossing over the Appalachian mountains--leads an expedition to the Kentucky region and explores Cumberland Gap. |
|
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Henry William Stiegel opens his famous American glassmaking works in Manheim, Pennsylvania. |
