CELEBRATE FREEDOM!

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HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

"We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies

The Bill of Rights

CELEBRATE FREEDOM!

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In the middle 1700's the . The original thirteen colonies were Connecticut,
Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island and Virginia.
Britain had imposed many taxes against the colonists. The fact that these tax laws could be enacted without any representation
from the colonies was a major cause of the Revolutionary War.

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In 1773, Britain's East India Company was sitting on large stocks of tea that it
could not sell in England. It was on the verge
of bankruptcy. In an effort to save it, the government passed the Tea Act of 1773,
which gave the company the right to export its merchandise directly to the colonies
without paying any of the regular taxes that were imposed on the colonial merchants,
who had traditionally served as the middlemen in such transactions. However, the Tea Act revived
American passions about the issue of taxation without representation.
In Boston harbor, local patriots led by Samuel Adams staged a spectacular drama.

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On the evening of December 16, 1773,
three companies of fifty men each, masquerading as Mohawk Indians, passed through a tremendous
crowd of spectators, went aboard the three ships, broke open the tea chests,and heaved them into the harbor.
As the electrifying news of the Boston "tea party" spread, other seaports followed the example
and staged similar acts of resistance of their own.
On April 17, 1775, in the city of Lexington, Massachusetts,
British troops and colonial Minutemen fought a battle.
It is still unknown as to who fired the first shot.
History records it as "The Shot Heard Around the World".
It was the beginning of the Revolutionary War.

Elijah

The first major battle of the war was fought at Bunker Hill, Massachusetts.
"Don't fire until you see the white's of their eyes", was the American byword.
Unfortunately, the British were the victors.
In the city of Philadelphia on July 2,1776, the Continental Congress
declared the colonies to be free of British rule,
but it took two more days for the delegates to agree
on a formal document announcing their action
"When in the Course of human events,"......

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With these words, the Declaration of Independence was written in Philadelphia on July 4th, 1776.
Contained therein can be found one of the world's most famous sentnces:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."

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The actual signing took place on August 2, when most members of the Continental Congress
put their names to the document.The boldest and biggest
of the signatures being that of the Congress president, John Hancock.
The occupations of the 56 members that signed, consisted of:
24 lawyers 14 farmers 9 merchants 4 physicians 1 manufacturer 1 gospel minister

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The final and definitive battle took place at Yorktown, Virgina.
The British were defeated, and General Charles Cornwallis surrended
to General George Washington on October 19,1781.
In February of 1783, George III issued his Proclamation of Cessation of Hostilities,
culminating in the Peace Treaty of 1783.
Signed in Paris on September 3, 1783,
the agreement--- also known as the Paris Peace Treaty--
formally ended the United States War for Independence.
The name "United States", was now born.

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