5 It’s April 18 1775 in Charlestown Massachusetts A rattling outside your bedroom window wakes you up You tiptoe to the window The moon is bright and you can see two men across the street A brown horse dances between the men its hooves striking the cobblestones on the street British troops entered Boston Massachusetts in the 1770s to enforce taxes and laws put in place by Great Britain THE UNITED STATES IS BORN CHAPTER ONE
Paul Revere Two of Paul Revere’s friends rowed him across the Charles River from Boston to Charlestown Then Revere borrowed a horse and rode to the nearby towns of Lexington and Concord He warned military leaders that British troops were marching toward their towns The American military leaders prepared to fight the British troops 6 The Thirteen Colonies If you lived in Massachusetts during the Revolutionary War 1775 1783 you might have seen Paul Revere heading north on his horse Revere is known for his ride to warn of British troops European settlers had lived in North America for more than 150 years by the time Revere made his famous ride From 1607 to 1775 Great Britain ruled 13 colonies on what is now the East Coast of the United States Life in the colonies was never easy Colonists grew food built homes made clothing and did many other jobs they had never done before But by the mid-1700s colonial life was becoming easier Colonists still had to work hard but most people
Native Americans and Europeans trade furs aboard a ship had food and a home Some colonists even became rich The 13 colonies were very different from one another Each of the colonies had its own government The colonies traded with one another but were not officially connected Middle colonies such as New York had bigger farms to produce their own products The British taxes and laws did not affect their lives as much 7
