Why did the colonists want freedom from Great Britain?

~Government~
  1. Americans didn't like the monarchy
  2. Americans wanted to be represented at Parliament
  3. Parliament had control over everything in the government and colonies.
  4. Britain used their power against the colonists.
  5. Britain taxed colonists to pay for their debts from a war a few years before.
  6. Britain limited the expansion of the colonies.
~Taxes And Acts~
   1. British had unfair taxes.
   2. British taxed tea so heavily people made their own.
   3. People were required to pay 6 pence (6 cents now) per gallon of molasses.
   4. The Townsend Act required people to pay taxes for all items imported(wool, tea, etc.)
   5. Patriots, people who wanted freedom from Britain, dumped tea in the harbor to revolt the Townsend Act. This is known as the Boston Tea Party.
   6. British closed the port until all the tea from the Boston Tea Party was paid for.
   7. Parliament agreed to block all imports and exports to and from Britain, except crops that the southern colonies depended on.
   8. In 1764, Parliament passed the Currency Act to prevent all use of paper money.
   9. The Stamp Act was passed in 1765. It required printed materials to be produced on stamped paper.
  10. Colonists protested the Stamp Act by burning the papers in Boston.
~Declaration Of Independence ~
  1. It was signed by 56 men who lived in the colonies.
  2. Thomas Jefferson wrote most of it.
  3. In 1783, Britain declared America a free country.
 ~Why else did people want freedom?~
   1. People who left for religious freedom wanted to keep it.
~Other Facts~
   1. Poor Richard's Almanac, a book with sayings and other "random" facts infuriated the British.
   2. British put people in jail for no reasons.
~Main Battles~
1. Battle of Lexington-1775
2. Battle of Concord-1775
3.Battle of Saratoga- 1777
4.Battle of Yorktown-1781
~Shot Heard Around The World~
1. The shot heard around the world was the first shot of the Revolutionary War. It was fired on April 19, 1775.
~People~
1. Thomas Jefferson: wrote Declaration of Independence
2. Paul Revere- He rode around the colonies on horse warning people that the British were coming on April 19(midnight ride!), 1775.