The Battles of Lexington and Concord
(Picture obtained from: http://www.sonofthesouth.net/revolutionary-war/battles/battle-lexington-concord.htm)
The year is 1775. The country we know today, the U.S.A., doesn't exist. It is a land of many colonies under the rule of the British Empire, or Great Britain. The colonies have been under the rule of the British for a very long time. The colonies used to like being under British rule, but things have changed. The British need money to pay for a war that they just won, and have begun making the colonists pay many taxes.
The Colonists in the Americas were angry with their rulers, the British. They were unhappy with the taxes that they British were making them pay. They began to revolt. The first revolt was the Boston Tea Party, in Boston Massachusetts. At the Boston Tea Party the colonists threw all of the British tea they'd have to pay taxes on into the bay. The British were very angry with the colonists. They began to prepare for more revolts. They sent thousands of British soldiers to America.
(Picture obtained from: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic-art/74947/94605/Illustration-of-the-Boston-Tea-Party)
The Americans who were unhappy with the British began meeting and preparing to begin a rebellion. The British generals found out about this and sent seven hundred soldiers to Concord, New Hampshire, to protect the supplies the British had there.
One American, Paul Revere, rode on his horse and warned the Americans that the British were coming. The Americans got together their own small army, of minutemen, to stop the British soldiers.
The two armies met up at Lexington, a small town on the way to Concord. No one knows who fired the first shot, but this shot became known as "The shot heard round the world." The British soldiers and the American soldiers fought. The British had a lot more men then the Americans did. They British won the battle. The battle, however, was just the beginning of the Revolutionary War.
(Picture obtained from: http://drkatesview.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/ride-of-paul-revere.jpg)
After the Battle of Lexington, the British were very mad at the Americans. They were worried about losing their most precious colony: America. The British sent more men to Concord. They wanted to protect the supplies they had there. The British had weapons, and food stored there.
The British got to the city, but the American soldiers were waiting for them. The Americans won the battle. The British retreated back to Boston. The Battle of Concord proved to the British that the American army was not just a band of unorganized rebels, but an army that deserved respect.
(Picture obtained from: http://www.historywiz.com/images/americanrevolution/concordbridge.gif)
The Battles of Lexington and Concord took place on April 19, 1775. The Revolutionary War lasted until 1781. For six years the American and the British fought. America was trying to win its independence and Great Britain was trying to keep America part of its empire.