"He is a tyrant and unfit to be the ruler of a free people," agreed they all.
And then everybody was silent while one read: "We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, solemnly publish and declare that the united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states"
Soon afterward the bell in the high tower above the hall began to ring.
"It is done!" cried the people. "They have signed the Declaration of
Independence."
"Yes, every colony has voted for it," said those nearest the door. "The
King of England shall no longer rule over us."
And that was the way in which the United States came into being. The thirteen colonies were now thirteen states.
Up to this time Washington and his army had been fighting for the rights of the people as colonists. They had been fighting in order to oblige the king to do away with the unjust laws which he had made. But now they were to fight for freedom and for the independence of the United States.
By and by you will read in your histories how wisely and bravely Washington conducted the war. You will learn how he held out against the king's soldiers on Long Island and at White Plains; how he crossed the Delaware amid floating ice and drove the English from Trenton; how he wintered at Morristown; how he suffered at Valley Forge; how he fought at Germantown and Monmouth and Yorktown.
There were six years of fighting, of marching here and there, of directing and planning, of struggling in the face of every discouragement.
Eight years passed, and then peace came, for independence had been won, and this our country was made forever free.