Revolution & Independence (1765–1789)
The break with the British motherland had a prosaic trigger: taxes. After the costly Seven Years' War (French and Indian War, 1754–63), the British Parliament decided to tax the colonies more heavily — without giving them a say. "No taxation without representation" became the rallying cry.
The escalation followed quickly: The Boston Tea Party (1773) — patriots disguised as Indians threw 342 chests of tea into the harbor to protest the tea tax. The battles of Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775) — the "shots heard 'round the world," the beginning of the War of Independence. And on July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted the Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson — one of the most influential documents in human history.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..." — a sentence of revolutionary power, written by a man who owned over 600 slaves. This contradiction between ideal and reality runs like a red thread through all of American history.
The War of Independence (1775–1783) was won with the help of France. In 1787, the US Constitution was adopted in Philadelphia — the oldest constitution still in force in the world. George Washington became the first president in 1789.
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In Philadelphia, you can visit the Independence Hall (free, but tickets required) and see the Liberty Bell. In Boston, the Freedom Trail leads past the most important sites of the Revolution. Together, both cities tell the story of the Revolution better than any history book.
