It has been 250 years since our United States of America was created. It was not an easy journey to independence. The colonists did not do this on their own. It took the help of Native Americans, enslaved Black Americans, free Black Americans, Jewish, and other ethnicities. France provided invaluable help along with Spain. There were 500,000 Blacks living in the colonies before the revolution. Ninety percent of these people were enslaved. Black Revolutionary War Soldiers numbered up to 953 in the Continental Army (battlefieldstrust.org) Telling the stories of these Black, along with Indigenous and Women Patriots, is at the core of this book. Find out why Blacks were barred from serving at the outset of the war. Why did General Washington change his mind? Why did they fight? What hopes did they have? The Native Americans hoped to remain neutral. What caused them to join either the British or the Colonists? Leading up to the Revolutionary War were events that are documented in history. Some of these documents have been gathered in this book to help the average person who knows little about our country’s beginnings to better understand what happened. Some of the Primary Documents in this book: Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation Thomas Jefferson’s Draft of the Declaration of Independence George Washington’s Oath of Allegiance Map of the Colonies in 1763 List of George Washington’s slaves First drawing of the Great Seal of the United States France and Spain (although first neutral) joined the American fight for independence. Find out how the alliance of these two nations helped turn the Revolution into the American’s favor. What did they contribute? Imagine poor farmers leaving their fields and families with their muskets, untrained to fight in a war that was sometimes on their own property. Their wives were left to fend for themselves and their children on a very dangerous frontier. Picture women hiding their children in a swamp when the British soldiers were nearby. Even more than that, women dressed up as men and fought on the battlefield. It is my hope that this book provides an insight into our history—that the reader will realize what all it took to be the United States of America that we have today.