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Publication of Cato's Letters
Cato's Letters, a series of pamphlets written in England by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, made their way to the American colonies where they proved very popular as calls for vigilance in safeguarding of liberties. -
The French and Indian War
The French and Indian War, fought between Great Britain and France, each side assisted by their Native American allies, proved to be a proving ground for American colonial militiamen who bravely fought alongside British soldiers to defend their territory. As a result of their contribution to the war effort, American colonists began to see themselves as gaining some measure of equality with their brethren across the Atlantic as subjects of Great Britain. -
The Passage of the Stamp Act
Due in part to debts incurred during the French and Indian War, the Stamp Acts were passed by the British parliament, levying a tax on use of any printed material. This direct taxation agitated the colonial populace against the British who they saw as taxing the colonies without granting them due representation. Until the Stamp Act, the colonies paid taxes to locally elected colonial legislatures. -
The Adoption of the Declaration of Independence
The colonies officially declared their independence from Great Britain with the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Long brewing and precipitated by a series of taxes levied by the British parliament, colonial desire for self governance and determination led to war. -
The Louisiana Purchase
Thomas Jefferson, as president of the United States, purchased Louisiana from the French as part of his grand vision for an America made prosperous by expanding its universal brand of liberty across the Americas. The purchase helps to augment America geographically, demographically, and in stature in relation to Great Britain in the New World. -
The War of 1812
As a burgeoning power in the America's, the United States watched as Britain provoked it by supporting Native American resistance on its borders and seizing its ships at sea. Was the was inevitable and broke out in 1812. Though fought essentially to a draw, the war helped solidify the United States as a fixture in the America's and formidable rival (endowed with a lasting cultural inheritance) to Great Britain.