RELATIONS BETWEEN COLONIES & GREAT BRITAIN

• England became Great Britain in the early 1700s
• Great Britain imposed strict control over trade
• Great Britain taxed the colonies after the French and Indian War
• The colonies traded raw materials for goods made in Great Britain
• Colonists had to obey British laws, which were enforced by governors
• Colonial governors were appointed by the king
• The colonies protested all these high taxes from Britain by using petitions and boycotting
• The Colonists were against paying taxes to Britain for two main reasons: 1.) They wanted to have a say in the taxes and make sure their voices were heard. 2.) They wanted to send representatives to Parliament.
• Colonial leaders at the First Continental Congress wrote a letter saying that colonists should have the same rights as other British citizens
• The First Continental Congress convened in Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, between September 5 and October 26, 1774
• two battles that happened in Massachusetts between the minutemen and the British. These battles were Concord and Lexington and they caused the delegates from First Continental congress to meet again.
• The delegates from all thirteen colonies came again to Philadelphia for their second meeting which was called the Second Continental Congress.
• • At the Second Continental Congress meeting, the delegates: 

  1. Declared war on England 

  2. Formed the Continental Army 

  3. Appointed George Washington as the leader of the Continental Army 

  4. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence with the help of other delegates.