Since 1754 America and the French have been fighting. The French had allies called the American Indians. Benjamin Franklin made a cartoon called "join or die". The cartoon had a snake that was cut into eighths.Each piece represented a colony. The message was to encourage the former colonies to unite against the British rule.
The Battle of Lexington and Concord 1775
The American people threw snow balls and rocks at the British Soldiers. The British Soldiers fired their guns. Five colonists died.The British soldiers were sent on trial but John Adams defended them. Nobody forgot this day.Groups like the Sons of Liberty used it to show the evils of British rule.
The Battle of Bunker Hill(Breed's Hill) 1775
Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!
The Boston Tea Party was a protest by the American Colonists against the British government.The colonists did not want to pay taxes to King George the third.The sons of liberty disguised themselves as Rally Mohawks. They boarded three boats filled with tea crates in Boston Harbor.They dumped 342 crates of tea into the water.
The Declaration of Independence 1775
The British Army set out from Boston to capture rebel leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock in Lexington as well as to destroy the Americans store of weapons in Concord. Two riders named Paul Revere and William Dawes went to warn the colonists that the red coats were coming to fight them. Another rider named Samuel Prescot joined them. This battle was the official beginning of the American Revolution.
The British decided to take two hills, Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill.The Americans went to defend the hills.Because the Americans were low on ammunition, Prescot told them "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes." The Americans built forts during the night to prepare for the battle. The British won the battle but they lost too many men and this gave the Americans a confidence that they can take the British down.
In the declaration of Independence,Thomas Jefferson wrote what the Americans believed was their rights. The declaration of Independence explains why the colonists should be free .Jefferson said that the Government should protect these rights.It explained why they wanted their freedom.It listed all the bad things that the king had done and that the colonies had rights which they felt they should fight for.