American Independence Day

Independence Day was created to celebrate the decision to break away from the tyranny and rule of the English.

The early colonies felt they were treated badly by the English. Initially out of loyalty and fear the colonists went along with the oppression. As days then months went by the situation became worse. The English created laws to benefit the English.

One of the most famous indiscretions was the Stamp Act. The Stamp act was a law designed to tax the colonist on imports from England . The most memorable of products that was taxed was tea. The Stamp Act led to the famous event called the Boston Tea Party.

The colonists eventually acted and on June 8 the Stamp Act Congress was formed to respond to the unfair taxation. The Stamp Act Congress would later be called the Continental Congress.

After much debate the Congress decided to seek independence from Great Britain. Over the next month the Declaration of Independence was drafted. On July 2 the Congress started to rework the draft and continued until they finished on July 4.

The Declaration of Independence was kept secret until July 8 when it was made public and celebrations were held. The original people who signed the Declaration would not do so until the following month on August 2.

The British were furious and tried to put down the rebellion. This was the beginning of the Revolutionary War.

The Revolutionary War would be a long and bloody struggle and would not officially end until the British signed the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783.