Why Were The Patriots

A patriot was a person who wanted the American colonies to gain their independence from Britain. They wanted their own country called the United States, they felt that they were being treated unfairly by the British and wanted out of British rule. Some famous well known patriots are, Paul Revere, John Adams, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, George Washington who led the Continental Army, and Thomas Jefferson who wrote the Declaration of Independence. Another commonly used name for the Patriots were “Rebels” or “The Sons of Liberty”. Loyalists were people who wanted to stay part of Britain and remain British citizens. They thought that their lives would be better if they stayed under British rule, and some were just scared to go against Britain

It started during the French and Indian war, this war had three phases. The first phases was when the english colonist had to fight alone to defend themselves against the raids. This caused many English settlers that were along the frontier to leave and go to the east of the mountains to escape all of the madness that was going on around them in 1755. During the second phase the colonist were forced to enroll into the war by the British. They also had to provide housing for British troops, and the British would take supplies from local farmers, and tradesmen without their consent. The third phase was a little better for the colonist because, the British did agree to repay the colonists for all of the stuff that was taken by the army, and control over recruitment to colonial assemblies was returned to them. Even though Britain did pay them back for all of the stuff, it was not right for them to just take whatever they needed from the colonist. This war had costs Britain tons of money which increased their debt, and also increased British bitterness towards the americans. They were mad at the colonist because they thought that they did not give enough to contribute to Britain for the