The French and Indian War was over. The British thought the American colonies should pay more taxes.
That would help pay for the British soldiers who had come to protect the colonies. The British expected the colonists to buy British goods. They also thought the colonists should sell their crops to Britain. Many colonists hated the taxes. They hated Britain’s economic policies, too. That’s because the colonies had no say in the British Parliament, which made these decisions. The colonies had no representatives in Parliament. By 1775, many colonists wanted independence from Britain. When British soldiers and colonists traded shots at the battles of Lexington and Concord, the American Revolution began. Soon after, in June 1775, America’s leaders met in Philadelphia to prepare for war. They chose George Washington to head the newly formed Continental Army. He was very modest. He warned, “I do not think myself equal to the command.”
