The War That Started It All

For nine long years, Britain and France fought a war in North America over who would get the forests, rivers, and fur trade.

In 1763, they finally signed a peace treaty in Paris, and Britain won almost all of France's land in North America.

But winning a war costs a LOT of money, and Britain owed piles and piles of it.

The king and Parliament looked across the ocean at the American colonies and said, 'We protected them — they should help pay us back.'

So Britain started passing new taxes on the colonies… and that is where the whole story of American independence really begins.