The first British colony founded in America was Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. By 1770, the number of colonies had raised to 13 with a population of more than 2 million people. In order to defend the colonies from foreign attacks, specially the French, the British had to spend a lot of money. Thus, they decided to impose some taxes on the colonies and this was the beginning of all the problems between the colonists and the British. The Stamp Act of 1765, taxed all legal documents and newspapers with the purpose of increasing the British income and reducing the amount of merchandise imported by the colonies. On December 16, 1773, an event which became known as The Boston Tea Party, was a revolt of the colonists against the Tea Act, in which the colonists in Indian disguises, entered the British ship anchored in the Boston harbor and threw a whole shipping of tea into the sea. For fear of any other rebellion that might occur, the British king George III decided to send his troops to the colonies to help prevent any kind of manifestation. Unsatisfied with England, the colonists sent delegates to Philadelphia in 1774, in order to form the First Continental Congress. In April 1775, as King George's troops advanced on Concord, Massachusetts, Paul Revere (1735-1818), an American Revolutionary patriot, sounded the alarm that the British were coming. The battle of Concord would then mark the unofficial beginning of the war for the American Independence, also known as the American Revolution (1775-1783). In May 1775, delegates were sent again to Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress. By June 1776 Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), who would later become America's third president (1801-1809), headed a committee that was formed to compose a formal Declaration of Independence. This committee included John Adams (1735-1826) - second president of the US (1797-1801), Benjamin Franklin (1707-1790) - American statesman, author and scientist, Philip Livingston and Roger Sherman. Thomas Jefferson was chosen to write the first draft of the Declaration, that was presented to the Congress on June 28, 1776. In the afternoon of July 4th, the colonies made their vote for the Declaration. Of the 13 colonies, 9 voted in favor, Pennsylvania and South Carolina voted against it, Delaware undecided and New York abstained. In order to make it official, the President of the Continental Congress, John Hancock, signed the Declaration and copies of the document were distributed on the following day. The Pennsylvania Evening Post was the first newspaper to print it, on July 6, 1776. On July 8th Colonel John Nixon, made the first public reading of the Declaration in Philadelphia's Independence Square, acclaimed by the crowd and church bells which pealed over Philadelphia announcing the birth of a new nation. The "Province Bell", which had been used since March 10, 1753 as a way of summoning people for special events, was also tolled, making this date a very special event in the history of the Bell. The Bell was later renamed "Liberty Bell" after its inscription from Leviticus 25:10: "Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof " Britain did not accept the Declaration of Independence immediately and battles and revolts intensified. Even loosing some battles and after a lot of bloodshed, the Americans still withstood. In October, 1781, with the aid of French allies, the Americans won the Battle of Yorktown, VA, and the British finally surrendered. Peace was finally achieved with the Treat of Versailles, in 1783, through which Britain officially accepted the Independence of the United States of America.    The signing of the Declaration was only completed in August, but the 4th of July has been accepted as the official anniversary of United States Independence. Although the 4th of July was only declared a legal holiday in 1941, the first Independence Day celebration happened on July 4, 1777. In the beginning of the 1800s, parades, picnics and fireworks shows became a traditional way to celebrate America's birthday and this tradition remains until today.      Click below if you have clicked on the Fourth of July tour on the main page. | Continue the Fourth of July Tour |   [ Site Index ] [ Home ] | Back to the Fourth of July Menu | This page was created on: June 26th 2001. Last updated on: July 4th 2003. ~ Susie's Graphics ~ Graphics by Irene ~ Country Graphics by Camille ~ Nothing in this site is Public Domain. Graphics are copyrighted by various artists and are used with permission. Please, click on the links above to visit the websites were you can download the graphics from. Do NOT save anything from my pages.