The Declaration of Independence is a document that was accepted by the continental congress on the 4th of July 1776 which stated that the 13 American colonies that were under the rule of Britain wanted to be independent states and no longer under the control of the British Empire.
The British started the colonize countries and also America and the first was Jamestown, Virginia.
The 13 colonies were under the British crown when George III ascended the throne on the 26th of October 1760.
4 Years later the British Parliament started asking taxes from the colonists to get money for the losses during the French-Indian War. The also raised the taxes on goods that were imported from Britain to the colonies including sugar, wine, coffee and cloth. This was called the Sugar tax. There was also a tax on the printed items that were produced in the colonies like the newspaper or documents and even playing cards. This was called the Stamp Act.
In 1767, the Townshend Acts levied additional taxes on tea, glass, paper, lead, and painted colors. By the following year, the Coercive Acts, also known as the Intolerable Acts were imposed on the thirteen colonies. As a result, the colonists felt that the laws violated their rights, same as with the first promulgation of the Stamp Act.
On the 5th of March 1770, some colonists came into a fight with some British soldiers - 5 colonist died. This was known as the Boston Massacre.
The colonists were unhappy about what was going on and because of the taxes and the death of the 5 men that some of them boarded the 3 trade ships and threw the cargo of tea into the ocean on the 16th December 1773. This event is known as the Boston Tea Party.
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The British was getting worried about all these disruptions and they met with the representatives from the colonies between September and October 1774.
It was followed by the Second Continental Congress on May 10, 1775 led by John Hancock.
On the 19th of April 1775 the American Revolutionary war began.
In Part 2 we will learn more about the document called the Declaration of independence.
