July 4th

United States independence

The independence of the United States is defined by the process by

which the thirteen Atlantic colonies of North America separated from
the British Empire, in the second half of the 18th century.
The conflict between Great Britain and its North American colonies
began in 1763, when the Seven Years' War ended. To finance the
costs of the war, the crown adopted a series of measures that
affected the interests of the Thirteen Colonies: it prevented colonists
from advancing towards the lands conquered from France (Canada
and Louisiana), it established commercial monopolies of tea and
other products and imposed various taxes.
After unsuccessful demands to rescind these measures, the
colonists began the independence movement, which culminated on
July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress, meeting in
Philadelphia, declared independence from the United States. This
was not recognized by Great Britain, which sent troops to North
America to recover the lost territories.
Thus began the War of Independence, in which the United States,
with the support of Spain and France, sought to recover the
territories lost in the Seven Years' War.

In 1783, Great Britain conceded defeat and signed the Treaty of

Paris, under which it recognized the independence of the United
States.

Causes
The main reasons for the independence of the United States were:
 The 7 Years' War (1756-1763), in which American settlers
participated in the fight against French possessions in Canada
and Louisiana. The settlers were disappointed by the
prohibition of Great Britain that they could occupy the
territories seized from the French.
 The imposition by Great Britain of taxes on imports of various
products so that the colonists could pay for the expenses
caused by the war.
 The Boston Massacre, which in 1770 ended with the murder of
several colonists by British troops. The colonists shot
demanded the elimination of the new taxes.
 The closure of the port of Boston and the prohibition of the
right of assembly decreed by the British in 1773, after some
settlers, disguised as indigenous people, dumped the cargo of
tea from several ships into the sea. Those ships belonged to
the company to which the Crown granted monopoly trade in
that product.
 The refusal of the British government to accept the argument
of the colonists that it was not fair that they impose new taxes
on them since they did not have representatives in the London
Parliament.

Consequences:

 The weakening of Great Britain that, after the loss of its North
American colonies, reoriented the geographical bases of its
colonial Empire towards Asia, Africa and Oceania.
 The sanction of the American constitution of 1787, which
established the republican, representative and federal form of
government; and the creation of three independent powers:
executive, legislative and judicial.
 The consecration of elementary rights, inspired by the ideas of
the Enlightenment: freedom of expression, of the press and of
assembly, as well as the right to petition the authorities and
the possession of weapons. But none of those rights applied to
slaves.
 The beginning of a process of economic development that
made possible the creation of a powerful internal market and
the territorial expansion towards the west in search of raw
materials to feed the incipient industrial development.
 The incidence of the Independence of the United States in the
triggering of the French Revolution, due to the serious
economic crisis caused in France by the military support given
to the rebellious settlers.
 The influence that the United States exerted on the Hispanic
American colonies, serving as an inspiration and model for
Creoles who wanted to end Spanish domination in America.