A Primary Source History of U.S. Independence

By Krystyna Poray Goddu

More than 200 years ago, Great Britain ruled the American colonies. Many colonists believed the British were ruling them unfairly. But many others wanted to remain loyal to Great Britain. Hear the words they spoke. Read the words they read. And see the differing points of view about the fight for U.S. Independence through the eyes of the people who lived it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
• Release date: May 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781496665102

Krystyna Poray Goddu

Krystyna Poray Goddu has been a writer and editor for more than thirty years; her books include Dollmakers and Their Stories: Women Who Changed the World of Play, and A Girl Called Vincent: A Biography of Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, both middle-grade nonfiction. Her writing for children has also appeared in American Girl magazine. She reviews and writes about children’s books for Publishers Weekly and The New York Times Book Review. In addition to her writing and editing experience, she has worked in school libraries and taught writing to middle-school students in independent schools in New York City. She holds a degree in comparative literature from Brown University.

Book preview

Primary Source History: A Primary Source History of U.S. Independence by Krystyna Poray Goddu

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COVER

TITLE PAGE

A NOTE ABOUT PRIMARY SOURCES

LAND OF THE FREE

HIGH COST OF VICTORY

TROUBLE BREWS IN BOSTON

FIGHTING BEGINS

DECLARING INDEPENDENCE

BATTLES OF THE REVOLUTION

FREEDOM

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

GLOSSARY

INDEX

COPYRIGHT

BACK COVER

A NOTE ABOUT PRIMARY SOURCES

Primary sources are newspaper articles, photographs, speeches, or other documents that were created during an event. They are great ways to see how people spoke and felt during that time. You’ll find primary sources from events that led to U.S. independence throughout this book. Within the text, primary source quotations are colored brown and set in italic type.

LAND OF THE FREE

The Star Spangled Banner declares the United States to be the land of the free. But it took years of struggle and staggering losses to achieve that freedom.

In the 1600s and 1700s, many of the people who came to America were British subjects. They lived in British colonies and were officially under King George III’s rule. For years the British government left the colonists alone, allowing them to make their own laws. While not independent, the people felt free.

By the middle of the 1700s, colonists found themselves involved in