Until 1760 those who lived in the thirteen American colonies were patriotic Englishmen. They appreciated the benefits of monarchy and thought of themselves as His Majesty’s loyal subjects. Their language, culture, customs, traditions and habits were those of England.

But during the next fifteen years the British government demanded higher taxes from the American colonies and imposed a variety of commercial and political restrictions. The colonists objected but were ignored. They wanted the freedom to exercise their rights as Englishmen. They joined together in protest by creating a Continental Congress. Who was to control the colonies: Parliament or the colonies’ own legislatures? Compromise and conciliation were not working. In December 1773 some colonists threw 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbour, claiming there should be “no taxation without representation”. When Britain responded with the Coercive Acts, many colonists began to talk of independence, of a complete separation from the mother country.

How did these reluctant rebels become successful revolutionaries? Linda Hart, herself an American expatriate, tells a riveting story about the background to the Declaration of Independence. Along the way we meet the key characters: George III, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Thomas Paine. Join us to mark the 250^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.