Land of the free

The Statue of Liberty is an important symbol to Americans - a symbol both of their personal freedom and also of their freedom as a nation.

In the days of the early immigrants, however, in the 17th and 18th centuries, America had not yet become a single nation. Most settlers lived in separate British colonies along the east coast. France had colonies in America, too.

In 1754 war started between the British and French colonies. The British won the war in 1763, but they needed money to pay for their soldiers in America, and so the government in London passed laws putting taxes on goods imported into the American colonies.

The colonists were especially angry about the new tax on tea as tea was their main drink. They were also very angry that a government far away was making laws for them when they were not even represented in Parliament. This was certainly not the freedom that they had come to America to find!

There were many protests against the taxes, some of them violent. The most famous protest took place in Boston harbour in 1773 when a group of fifty men, dressed as Indians, managed to get onto some ships importing tea and threw all the tea into the sea.

Strong feelings about the undemocratic taxes, together with the sight of British soldiers in their new homeland helped to bring the people in the different colonies together and to develop their sense of identity as "Americans". Not long after the Boston Tea Party incident, the War of Independence began, and on July 4th 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Today July 4th is a national holiday in the United States. Every year all Americans celebrate the day when America became a free nation.

Red Line New 6, Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart, 2000, page 68