This year marks the 250th anniversary of the United States!
On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress officially declared independence from the British Empire with the Declaration of Independence.
Although we consider July 4, 1776 to be the official birthday of the United States, the colonies had been building up to independence for decades, and we had been at war with Britain since 1775. The war ended on September 3, 1783 with the Treaty of Paris. The Constitution that we use today was not ratified until 1788, years after the Revolutionary War had already ended.
The infamous Boston Tea Party happened on December 16, 1773. The colonies formed the First Continental Congress in September 1774 and issued a statement regarding the colonies’ complaints against the British. On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere and William Dawes made their historic rides to warn people that the British had arrived. The Battles of Lexington and Concord were fought the next day.
On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation was adopted by the Second Continental Congress and then sent out for state approval, although it took years to be approved by all 13 states, with 12 approving by 1779 and the last in 1781. However, it was a poor framework for a unified government, so they went back to the drawing board and developed the Constitution.
The Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788, officially becoming the framework for the United States government. It went into effect in 1789.
See below for book recommendations and additional resources!
Local Interest
Children’s Books
Middle Grade Books
Adult Books
Adult Nonfiction
We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution 
Constitution of the United States of America 
The Price of Democracy 
Making the American Self 
Women Heroes of the American Revolution 
A People’s History of the United States 
US Civil Rights Trail 
She Votes: How Women Won Suffrage, and What Happened Next 
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States 
An African American and Latinx History of the United States 
A Black Queer History of the United States 
Coyote America 
Not Your Founding Father
Classic American Writers
Additional Resources
PBS: The American Revolution (streaming series)
PBS: American Revolution Facts: Battles, Casualties, and More
National Park Service: Timeline of the Revolution
American Battlefield Trust: American Revolution Timeline
National Archives: Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
Project Gutenberg: The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America
National Archives: Creating the Declaration: A Timeline
National Archives: The Constitution of the United States
National Archives: The Articles of Confederation (1777)
National Archives: Treaty of Paris (1783)
Library of Congress: Creating the United States: Road to the Constitution
Museum of the American Revolution
American History Central: Declaration of Independence – Summary, Facts, and Text
USHistory.org: The Declaration of Independence: The Want, Will, and Hopes of the People
History.com: Revolutionary War
History.com: Why Was the Declaration of Independence Written?
Revolutionary War Records (revolutionarywar.us)
American Revolutionary War on American History Central
WorldHistory.org: The Treaty of Paris
Related Pages
TBR Books 