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into Boston Harbor. Parliament responded to the "Boston Tea Party"
with the "Coercive" or "Intolerable Acts." The independence of the
Massachusetts colonial government was sharply curtailed, and the
port of Boston was closed to shipping. Instead of isolating
Massachusetts, the Coercive Acts helped to unite moderates among
the colonists.
Opposed to what was perceived as British oppression, colonial
leaders held the first Continental Congress in 1774 in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. The leaders urged Americans to disobey the Coercive
Acts and to boycott British trade. Colonists began to organize militias
and to collect and store weapons and ammunition. On April 19,
1775,700 British soldiers left Boston, determined to capture a colonial
arms depot at Concord and forestall a colonial rebellion. At the village
of Lexington, they confronted 70 colonial militiamen. Someone - no
one knows who - fired a shot, and the American War of Independence
began.
In May 1775, a second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia
and began to assume the function of a national government. It founded
a Continental army and navy under the command of George
Washington, printed paper money and opened diplomatic contacts
with foreign powers. On July 2, 1776, the Congress finally resolved
"that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and
independent states." Thomas Jefferson of Virginia drafted a
Declaration of Independence, which the Congress adopted on July 4,
1776.
The Declaration presented a public defense of the American
Revolution, including a lengthy list of grievances against the British
king, George III. Most importantly, it explained the philosophy behind
the revolution - which men have a natural right to "Life, Liberty and
the pursuit of Happiness"; that governments can rule only with "the
consent of the governed"; that any government may be dissolved
when it fails to protect the rights of the people.
At first, the war went badly for the Americans. The British
captured New York City in September 1776 and Philadelphia a year
later. The tide turned in October 1777, when the British army
surrendered at Saratoga, in northern New York. Encouraged by that
victory, France seized an opportunity to humble Britain, her
traditional enemy. A Franco-American alliance was signed in
February 1778. Although American troops generally fought well, with
few provisions and little training, they might have lost the war if they