First Steps to Independence (1223)

William Penn, a member of the Religious Society of Friends, founded the colony of Pennsylvania, where he set up laws protecting freedom of religion and speech. Those laws also enabled the Pennsylvania colonists to have a voice in their local government. The British government required people to pay taxes, but gave them no voice in pausing the tax laws. The British motherland determined what the colonists could produce and with whom they could trade.

In 1774, a group of leaders from the colonies met and formed the "Continental Congress", which informed the king of the colonists’ belief that they should have a voice in determining laws that affected them. The king and the conservative government in London paid no heed to the concerns of the colonists, and many colonists felt that this was an injustice, which gave them reason to demand independence from Britain. In 1775 fighting broke out between New England militia and British soldiers.

On July 4, 1776 Continental Congress issued a Declaration of Independence, primarily written by Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration described them as "free and independent states" and officially named them the United States of America. The document says that all people are created equal, that all have the right to "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness".

With help from France and other Europeans the American armies, led by George Washington won the War of Independence. The peace treaty signed in 1783.

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