countrymantori podcast

In Colonial America, the 13 colonies were ruled by Great Britain. King George III taxed the colonists to pay off debts from the French and Indian War. The colonists formed the Sons of Liberty and protested by throwing British tea into the harbor in the Boston Tea Party. Britain responded with the Intolerable Acts, closing ports and increasing soldiers in Boston. Patriots wanted to break away from Britain and fought the British soldiers in the Battle of Lexington and Concord. The Revolutionary War began and after a year of fighting, the Founding Fathers declared independence in the Declaration of Independence. The fight for freedom continued. Hello students! Welcome to Once Upon a History. I'm your teacher, Mrs. Countryman, and today we are taking a trip back to Colonial America in the 1700s. During this time, the United States was not its own country. Instead, there were 13 colonies who were ruled by Great Britain. The king of Great Britain was King George III, and he needed money for Britain. Britain had just gotten out of a war with France called the French and Indian War. King George III spent a lot of money sending soldiers and weapons to the Americas, and now he didn't have any money. So his solution was to tax the people who lived in the American colonies. Soon, the colonists were being taxed on sugar, playing cards, paper, and their favorite drink, tea. The colonists were so upset. Not only were they struggling to buy their favorite things, but they had no say in the government. Whenever they had any concerns, King George III would ignore them. The colonists did not know what to do, so they started a secret group called the Sons of Liberty. At one of their meetings, they decided to do something to show Britain how upset they were. On the night of December 16, 1773, members of the Sons of Liberty dressed up in disguises so that no one would recognize them. Then they went to the harbor in Boston and boarded three ships that contained British tea. Next, they started throwing the tea into the harbor. They did this for three hours and destroyed 342 chests of tea. That is close to 92,000 pounds of tea. When Britain heard about this, they were so mad that they wanted to punish the colonists. They passed the Intolerable Acts. These acts closed the ports in Boston so that no one could buy supplies. They also increased the number of British soldiers in Boston. The soldiers had no place to stay in Boston, so King George III gave them permission to stay in the colonists' house even if they didn't want them to. Sides were then formed. Some of the colonists wanted to break away from Britain and become their own country. These colonists called themselves Patriots. The Patriots started recruiting men to join their side and collecting guns and ammo. The British soldiers found out where the Patriots were hiding their weapons and went to go destroy them. The Patriots heard they were coming and got ready to fight. Both sides met at the Battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. The tensions were high as both sides, the Patriot and the British soldiers, stared at each other as they waited for each other to take the first shot. Then it happened. No one knows who fired the first shot, but that shot started the Battle of Lexington and Concord and the Revolutionary War. It was later referred to as the shot heard around the world. The battles continued and both sides refused to give up. After a year of fighting, the Founding Fathers of America met. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, which said that the American colonies were free from Great Britain. On July 6, 1776, the rest of the Founding Fathers signed it. This was a big step towards freedom, but their fight wasn't over yet. Thank you for listening to Once Upon a History. Tune in next time to find out what happened next in the American Revolution.