A HISTORY LESSON

Life in America in the 18th century was not easy. Colonists, most of whom came from England or whose parents or grandparents came from England, had to contend with harsh winters, unfriendly Indians, foreign flora and fauna, and with the results of wars mostly started and fought 1000 miles away. The people who came to America, though, were a hardy bunch. Many came to satisfy a need for adventure, some to escape persecution, others were brought here as servants or slaves. The hardships they faced on an almost daily basis gave them a fierce loyalty to each other, to their colonies, to the land on which they lived. Far from the King, they felt free.

The colonists were loyal subjects of the English King, George III. For a time. They fought with the British (they were British, after all) against the French in the French and Indian War (known to the English as the Seven Years War). A young George Washington cut his military teeth at Pittsburgh in 1754, where he was hailed as a hero for taking on a large French contingent, despite being captured and sent home packing. In 1763, the English won that war, which started in the colonies and expanded to Europe and Asia, and they took much of the French holdings in North America as prizes of war.

1763. 1776. In thirteen years, the colonies went from loyal subjects, helping the war cause, to rebels, intent on expelling Britain from the world it had conquered, intent on independence. The British, it can be said, brought this upon themselves. entire read