Not long after the earliest days of European settlements on this continent, the colonies on North America bustled with industry and agriculture; the adventurous spirit that brought many to our shores showing in their willingness to undertake new trades and adventures.

And, for the most part, life was good. They had their challenges, but it made the people strong and self-sufficient.

For close to 150 years, the new Americans were happy to pledge their allegiance to their old homelands – living under governors appointed by their monarchs, and living with the laws those monarchs decreed. It was the way it had always been.

When, in 1754, the minor skirmishes between the English colonists and the French and Native Americans in the area led to full fledged war, the colonists obeyed their governors – they begrudgingly fight for the British, and supply food and lodgings for their troops. Though the scope of this war was smaller, it led to the much more intense fighting of the Seven Years War between Great Britain and France. These wars ended in with the Treaty of Paris in early 1763, but not before changing the course of history.

King George III, who ascended to the throne after the death of his father in 1760, has a dilemma on his hands – he must pay for the wars that his country has been fighting, and the restoration of damaged areas.

This leads to The American Revenue Act of 1764, more commonly known as the Sugar Act in America, which taxed sugar and molasses. That was followed by the Currency Act which prohibited the colonists from printing paper money, and the Stamp and Quartering Acts.

It also leads to the spread of the sentiment against “Taxation without Representation.”

Needless to say, tensions were strained in the colonies by this point. Little bouts of violence were beginning to break out against figures of authority – a bit of arson here, a tar-and-feathering there.

Eventually, the Stamp Act was repealed, but in its place stood the Declaratory Act which stated that Britain’s Parliament had the right to pass and enforce laws anyway it felt was necessary.

Then things get really nasty, Charles Townsend becomes head of the British cabinet. The Acts that bear his name are some of the harshest to be enacted. These 4 acts suspend the especially pernicious New York Assembly – they’ve been refusing to quarter soldiers, and basically being a thorn in the side of Parliament; tax small things in a plot for the tax to go largely unnoticed; things like paints, glass, paper, and tea; repeal taxes on tea in England and allow it to be exported without fee; Establish the Board of Customs to ransack warehouses and private homes looking for smuggled goods; took control over the local royal authorities and took control of their salaries away from the local assemblies.

As we entered the new decade (1770), the situation turned from bleak to dark as the clouds of war rolled in from the horizon. Armed British forces – the Red Coats – begin to appear more menacingly throughout the colonies, but are especially heavy in towns like New York, Boston and Philadelphia. Boycotts of British goods are organizing continually. Riots and small acts of violence between loyalists and those looking in a new direction become almost routine.

On March 5, 1770 a crowd gathered outside the customshouse in Boston. Things got nasty quickly – it started with some name calling, and the situation disintegrated from there. A small unit of British troops responded, and when one was hit with a club, he and the rest of the unit fired into the crowd. Three colonists were killed instantly, two more were fatally wounded, and six others were injured in the skirmish. It was not long before news of this Boson Massacre spread throughout the colonies, fanning the feelings of hatred and distrust that were already starting to spark.

In 1773 the Tea Act was passed, and it was followed with the Boston Tea Party – where nearly 350 chests of English tea were dumped into Boston Harbor. The punishment for such insubordination? The Intolerable or Coercive Acts – which included laws concerning everything from the Closing of Boston Harbor until the tea was paid for, requiring colonists to send British officials back to Britain to be tried for crimes, to the widening of the Quartering Act to include buildings that were already occupied.

The first Continental Congress met secretly in 1774 to discuss the situation. They agreed to boycott British goods and to meet again if King George didn’t agree to some policy changes. All the same, fortifications went up around key points and ammunition was stockpiled. Militia members, also called Minute Men for their ability to be battle ready so quickly, were also made ready to resist if necessary.

The New England Restraining Act was passed in 1775, which called for force to be used to ensure the colonies trade only with Britain.

When the Boston Committee of Safety discovered that troops were preparing to seize the ammunition stockpiled at Concord, Paul Revere and William Dawes were sent to rouse the Minute Men. These Men met the British troops on the road between Lexington and Concord. The first shot became known as “The Shot Heard ‘Round The World.” It heralded the end of a colony, and the beginning of a proud nation.