The American Journey to Independence

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Every year on the Fourth of July, we celebrate America's independence. We celebrate the day our forefather, a group of patriotic and unwavering men signed a Declaration of Independence. This document declared the thirteen colonies independence from Great Britain. This was the day the United States of America became a nation.

To understand, why Independence Day is most notable, we have to look at the events leading up to July 4, 1776 and the American Revolution. What is the motive behind our forefather’s rebellion against England? What events played a significant role in this revolution to independence? To find the motive, we have to go back to 1620 when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. English settlers came to the new land to be free from the King’s Parliament. They wanted to make their own laws, to be free to practice their own religion and be independence from Great Britain’s rule. However, even thorough the colonists opposed the rules of Parliament, most still considered themselves loyal to the crown and an Englishman.

Over the next hundred years and so, the colonists had become self-reliant and resistant to any interference from Great Britain government. The thirteen English colonies, under the King George II were established along the east coast and colonies prospered. The governments in each colony differed, some were self-governing and another had royal governors, yet far from the rules of the King and Parliament1.

King George III takes the Throne

In 1760, when King George III came to the throne all the warm feeling towards Great Britain started to change. George III ascended to the throne just as the French and Indian War (Seven Year War in Europe) were coming to an end. 2. Great Britian was...

... middle of paper ...

... It shuts down Boston Harbor until the colonists paid for the dumped tea, cancelled Massachusetts’s charter, sent the British troops tried for the Boston Massacre back to Britain for a new trial, forced colonists to quarter British troops and named General Thomas Gage the governor of Massachusetts

Bibliography

Barnes, Eric Wollencott., and W. N. Wilson. Free Men Must Stand; the American War of Independence. New York: Whittlesey House, 1962. 10-24.

Johnson, Gerald White. "Chapter Seven: The Colonies Fight." In America Is Born, 196-240. Morrow, 1959.

Morris, Richard B. "The Rebellion Kindled." In The New World: The Life History of the United States. Morristown, NJ: Silver Burdett/ Time-Life Books, 1975.

Sanderlin, George William. "Chapter 2: The New Stamp." In 1776: Journals of American Independence. New York: Harper & Row, 1968.

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