BY: Phyllis Nyamunda

For kids

Page 1 Once upon a time in 1763 there were two countries that

became best friends. These people were known as the French and the Indians and together they made the French and Indian clubhouse , that no one could join. The British people also known as the colonist always tried to come into the French and Indian clubhouse causing them to fight everyday. Their relationship just kept getting worse each day and before you knew it the French and Indian were fighting with Britain. The British did many things and even fought back and in the end the French and Indian won. BOOHOO to the poor British men who had to go home and tell everyone that also wanted to be part of the clubhouse that they lost.

Page 2

Later that day when the colonist came back home to celebrate, some old crusty genies popped out of no where .The colonists thought they were going to grant them wishes but instead they introduced themselves in a fun but very long song. The genies claimed there names were John, Plato, Aristotle, Jean and Baron. Instead of granting the colonists a wish they gave them reasons why they should stop listening to the King. This gave them all crazy ideas.

Page 3When the Colonists finally came to their

senses they realized the things that King George the third was asking for wasn’t fair. They yelled and argued wondering what was the right thing to do, since Britain was in debt from losing the French and Indian fight, they were being forced to pay more money for things like clothes and tea. They loved tea and just thinking about paying more money made them angry.

They came up with ideas like they shouldn’t listen to the king because he was money hungry, meaning he only wanted money for himself and could care less about the colonists.

Page 4The king kept making rule after rule

and not only were the colonists tired of this they realized that the things he was saying didn’t make any sense at all. First he started with the Proclamation of 1763 which meant the colonists could never buy houses or move west of the mountains.

Then the king made everyone who was a colonist pay for things they needed and this time it wasn’t only tea but he added paper and many other things ! After all these rules he didn’t stop there, he made colonist take care of soldiers in their homes less than 2 years later when there wasn’t even a war !

Page 5The colonist held meetings with other people and planned

things to do and finally they came up with the wonderful idea to dump tea all over Boston harbor .This was later named The Boston Tea Party it wasn’t really a party for the King but it was for the colonist. When King George heard of the news it made him angry, and the colonist didn’t know but they just made everything worse for themselves. All King George did was add more rules for people to follow and there was even a rule saying all the tea that was throw should be paid for no matter what. This time the Colonists were angry . They wouldn’t meet up with each other anymore or do anything fun with out the King knowing . Life was getting harder and harder.

Page 6

- Declare war : to say you want to fight with the people you don’t like

Finally the colonist had enough. The colonist became friends with other people from other colonies and together they became united and made these secret groups called militias after a SECRET meeting called Continental Congress. Britain wasn’t going to let anyone think they were scared so they decided they were going to go to the colonist and declare war. What they didn’t know was that while they were heading to Lexington and Concord ( the places were they met up with the colonist ) the colonist were waiting for them and everything changed from that point. Everyone there heard a weird but loud noise so they decided to make loud noises back, everyone just kept falling to the ground after the loud noises sounded and ended up disappearing magically. Many people from Britain were gone and only 49 people in the colonists side disappeared and 41 people almost disappeared but didn’t.

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If you can imagine it the war didn’t end yet. More people were disappearing each day and one man decided the colonists needed more then just to fight Britain they needed independence also known as freedom. This man’s name was Thomas Paine also known as T-Paine. Thomas Paine convinced many people to fight for their independence and not let anyone tell them what to do and how much they would have to pay for things that they normally need in life. Thomas Paine named the book COMMON SENSE and on it there was a rap telling the colonist to not listen to the king and everything would be better, not only for himself but for the colonists too.

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Finally things were getting a little better for the colonists they were still at war but people started thinking more about freedom. First it was 1 out of every 3 people who wanted to rebel also know as fighting back after hearing what Thomas Paine had been saying about getting independence. All of a sudden something weird but wonderful happened, Thomas Paine got many people to start talking about this one awesome word, FREEDOM. Benjamin Franklin and John Adams (two very important people) were the ones who got every other important person to start thinking more about freedom. Finally they decided and it was a go. Thomas Jefferson volunteered to write The Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson got ideas from George Masion and John Lock it was later passed, meaning colonists were free from Britain's control and it only took 9 hours. WOW. The first person to sign the Declaration of Independence was John Hancock that is why his name is written in

very big letter like this .

Page 8

On the battlefield they decided that the war wouldn’t end until Britain or the Americans won, so an old almost crusty man named George Washington lead the Americans to different places all around the 13 colonies. There was Charleston and Bunker Hill which was in Massachusetts, probably around where you live right now. The Americans defeated the British in Yorktown and had them running away so fast that the French decided they would unite with them and together they made an alliance ( a group that helps another group fight people they don’t like ) The Americans won !!!! Whoop Whoop. They waited years just to get their freedom, and finally they got it !

THE END !

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Me me and you together forever and I know I will never stop loving you

About the Author :Phyllis Nyamunda was born in

Nairobi, Kenya on august 17th 1982 and is currently living in Boston. She married James Ford 1 year after her book became a bestseller in 2010. When Phyllis is not writing books, in courthouses defending innocent people, or choreographing dances for her dance group she is at home with her wonderful husband and 2 kids playing games like basketball ( her favorite sport ).