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After their last war, the English needed
money to pay for the weapons that they used. They decided to raise money
by taxing all the thirteen colonies. They were put on sugar, tea, and
many other items. The Colonists did not think that the British
government had the right to tax them. They refused to pay taxes. In
December of 1773 they dumped a shipment of tea into Boston harbor. This
became known as the Boston tea party. Then a war broke out between the
colonists and the British. It began April 19, 1775 in Lexington,
and Concord Massachusetts. When the war started, the colonists had their
own government called the continental congress. In 1776 the congress
created the Declaration of Independence to tell why America was breaking
away from England. But that wasn't the only thing that would make it
happen. They had to win the Revolutionary war. In Spring of 1778, France
joined with the Americans in fighting the British. They helped win the
war. The last battle was a great American victory at Yorktown, Virginia,
in October of 1781. Therefore, the thirteen colonies became the thirteen
United States of America! |