Hoàng-Ân
USA: From Colony To Statehood
The first people came to America came in groups and for different purposes. The first groups came to explore. The Dutch in New York and the colonists in Virginia came to trade. The Pilgrims and Puritants in Massachusetts, the Quakers in Pennsylvania, and the Roman Catholics in Maryland came for freedom to worship. The Swedes and Finns came to Delaware and New Jersey for political freedom.
The colonists in North America where is to become the United States were governed by Great Britain. The government of England consisted of a King and a law making body called Parliament. The Parliament is composed by representatives of the English people. The English people believed that they can be taxed only by their representatives. The colonists could have representatives in their local government, but not in Parliament; Governors were sent by the English king to the colonies to enforce his laws there. Yet, the King taxed imported goods to the colonies and regulated strictly what the colonists could make and trade. For years the colonists accepted this control.
In 1756, France and England declared war against each other. The King sent soldiers to America, and the colonists fought side by side with the English soldiers and their Indian allies. Britain won the French and Indian War in 1763. After this war, King George the III left an army in America. He thought that the colonists had to pay for the maintaining of his soldiers. He ordered his soldiers to search the goods belonged to the colonists. The colonists were upset because they thought of themselves as Englishmen, and when the soldiers searched their goods without a written warrant, the King had offended their rights.
The colonies decided to meet on the autumn of 1774 to petition to England. England refused to accept the grievances. The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775 and it decided to fight England. On June 1, 1775, it appointed George Washington as the General of the colonial army. During that time, England was also at war with France and Spain. At home, the English people opposed the war in America. The British soldiers in America did not want to fight the war. So England surrendered in Yorktown, Virginia in 1783. The Colonies had gained their independence.
