American Independence

After dealing with harsh taxes imposed by British, the Americans in the 13 colonies finally had enough and started a war against their colonial masters in spring 1775. Within a year of fighting, the Declaration of Independence was written by one of the founding fathers and later 3rd US President Thomas Jefferson and independence was declared on 4 July 1776. This day is celebrated with firework displays in the United States.  

However not long after declaring independence, the Americans started to struggle to defeat the British. During the bleak mid-winter of 1776-1777, George Washington and his men captured Trenton, New Jersey after crossing the half frozen Delaware River. The turning point in the war came in the town of Saratoga in the state of New York. Following this, an alliance was made with France which helped the Americans with further battles with last one taking place in Yorktown, Virginia where the once 13 colonies became the first 13 independent states of the United States. The British won 10 battles while the Americans won 13 battles. After a formal peace treaty, the Treaty of Paris was signed, the first 13 states wrote up a state constitution (which means some of their laws are different to that of the national constitution) while a nationwide constitution was put into effect in 1788 with George Washington becoming the first President of the United States a year later, serving two terms.