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Bills to Pay
Bills to Pay
12 pages
Author: Emily Johnson
BILLS
HISTORY
COMMUNITY
Courage
WAR
Summary
2nd Grade Version To understand why the American Revolution happened, we need to look back at the years from 1754 to 1763. During this time, the British and the French were fighting in a war on land that is now part of the United States. This war is called the French and Indian War. The British wanted to control more land, and the French wanted to keep their land. Many Native Americans chose to help either the British or the French during this war. In 1759, British soldiers went to a city called Québec in Canada and won a big battle there. They took over another city called Montréal the next year. After that, there weren't many big battles left between the British and the French in North America. The fighting mostly stopped by 1763 when a peace agreement called the Treaty of Paris was signed. Why did the British start taxing the colonists, and why did this make them mad? The British government made laws and taxes that affected the colonists. Many colonists felt proud to be British, but they believed they had rights that the king should protect. They didn't like the Stamp Act, which was a new tax. In Virginia, some leaders, called the House of Burgesses, said that the British Parliament shouldn’t be taxing them. In 1765, the prime minister of Britain was George Grenville. He created the Stamp Act because he needed money to pay for British soldiers in North America. He thought the colonists should help pay for these soldiers who were protecting them. At first, the British leaders were surprised by how upset the colonists were. Grenville did not listen to their complaints and was eventually replaced in 1766. A leader named George Washington fought in the French and Indian War along with the British. He helped lead soldiers against the French. He became a well-known leader and was even elected to help make laws in Virginia.
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