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The colonies were experiencing a lot of trouble because of unfair taxation, lack of representation in the British parliament, and the restriction of colonial freedoms: even so, less than one-third of the colonists really wanted independence from Britain.
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The King declared the colony of Massachussetts to be in open rebellion and commanded that Boston's main leaders, Sam Adams and John Hancock be arrested for treason. Later, soldiers were ordered to seize American weapons and gunpowder being stored in Concord, Massachussetts.
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Once people knew when and which way the redcoats were coming, Paul Revere and three other men went to warn people. The next morning in Lexington, armed citizens called the minutemen confronted the redcoats and lost. Noone knows who fired first but after that war broke out. The British troops continued up to Concord but were forced to retreat back towards Boston. At the end of the battles 250 British and 90 Americans were either killed or wounded.
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The battle at Bunker Hill was the second and bloodiest battles in the war. American militamen constructed a crude dirt fort at night atop a hill in Charlestown overlooking Boston's harbor. British started shelling the fort from ships in the harbor and from land batteries in Boston. Charlestown was burning. Americans didn't start firing until they could see "the whites of the enemies eyes." British had more soldiers than the Americans. At the end the British won but lost twice as much people.
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Thomas Jefferson and other members of a special congressional committee were busy at work writing the Declaration of Independence, Americas most famous historical document. It said that all men are created equally. It described how the British has taken all the rights of the colonists. On the fourth of July in Pennsylvania the document was approved. The signing of the Declaration of Independence is very important but it was also dangerous.
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George Washington set up a camp at Valley Forge, Pennslyvania, about a days ride from Philadelphia. Soldiers built rows of log cabins and soon Valley Forge became the second largest city in the United States with 12,000 men. During the winter 2,000 soldiers died because of the harsh winters, lack of food, clothes, and shoes.
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The summer after Valley Forge the British took a major military campaign in the southern states where a lot of people were against Independence. Soon the British controlled all of Georgia.
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The United States suffered from bad defeats in the south. Eventually they started to win again, but could not stop the British from invading Virginia.
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British troops reached Yorktown, Virginia, an old tobacco port. British set up camp on the outskirts of Yorktown, positioned their weapons, and built walls and trenches while they waited for more troops and supplies to ship over from New York. Meanwhile, Washington got 5,000 French troops and him and his army marched down to Virginia. A French fleet battled and stopped the ships from getting to the British so now they were trapped and outnumbered. After so much shelling the British surrendered.
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A peace treaty was approved in which Great Britain formally recognized the independence of the United States of America. It officially ended this dreadfully long war.
