The Colonists Case

The colonists moved from Britain for many reasons. Some wanted to find riches, others wanted religious freedom. Once they were in their new colonies they started to feel like their own country. The colonist starting believing that they were no longer part of England. They now had self-government, religious freedom, and equality among the colonists.

The colonists now had self-government. Since they now had their own government, they started to feel that it was not necessary for them to live under British rule. For example in Document B, the letter written by Benjamin Franklin on "The Rattlesnake as a Symbol of America", it states that the new colonies have their own defenses, so they have the ability to defend themselves if needed, without the help of Britain. In Document D, it also stated that they had set up their own form of a judicial branch and congress. The colonies even had their own forms of taxation. All in all, the colonists set up their own form of government by creating a congress, having a judicial branch, setting up their own defenses, etc.

Religious freedom is the second reason why the settlers believed that they were no longer part of Britain. The King and Queen no longer had a say on what religion that the colonists must have been. In Document A, it stated that the colonist believed that God had a high rating, and if they believed in him, that was as good as it could get. They also felt that if you showed love and affection to one another, it was because of God, and if there were disputes, it was an act of the Devil (Document E). In Document H, it also expressed that the civil government was of God. Religious freedom may have been one of the reasons the colonists moved away from Britain, but it was also a reason that they started seeing themselves as independent.

The last reason is equality. Since they were far away from their home country, everyone had a chance to start over. Since everyone was treated equally, the