AN INDEPENDENT NATION

•  The United States used to be a group of colonies that belonged to England. Until 1763, England had interfered in the business of the colonists very little. However, England had a lot of war debt that needed to be paid, and some of it was because England was defending the colonies. Pressure from citizens living  in England to lower taxes there made the king decide to take  more control over the colonies and make them pay off the debts.  After many years of being left to make their own decisions, some colonists did not want to pay high taxes, or follow rules that did not make sense to them, especially since colonists did not have an opportunity to participate in government decisions in England.

• The colonists were divided: some, the Loyalists, wanted to   stay loyal to England, and others, the Patriots, felt that it was time for America to be established as an independent nation.  The Patriots decided that it was time to make an official declaration, or statement, of independence by sending a letter to the king. Fighting had already begun when Thomas Jefferson wrote the group’s ideas into a letter to King George III, explaining why the colonists believed they no longer had to listen to his authority. The men who signed the declaration risked their lives, but they believed in America enough to sign anyway.

• After the American Revolution was over, the job of uniting thirteen separate colonies into one nation had to be done. It was a difficult process with lots of compromises. Finally, another document called the Constitution was written to describe the rights and responsibilities of our new government and its people.

 Name:__________________________________

Answer the following questions based on the reading passage. Don’t forget to go back to the passage whenever necessary to find or confirm   your answers.

1)  What country did the American colonies belong to when they were first established?

2)  Why did King George III decided to take more control over the colonies than he had before?

3)  Did all the colonists think that it was time to be independent from England? Explain.

4)  Do you think you would have been willing to risk death by signing the declaration of independence? Why, or why not?

5)  What are some rights and responsibilities you think citizens should have?