The first shot fired at Lexington may be the technical start of the Revolutionary war, but it really began long before, starting with the Proclamation of 1763.

The Proclamation of 1763 forbade colonists to leave the safe yet crowded colonies. Colonists would exit the colony, and journey past the Appalachian mountains. If they left, which they were forbidden to do, the British wouldn't protect them against the attacking Indians.

In 1765 the British angered the colonists even more by passing the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act taxed everything, from newspapers to cards. It taxed almost everything that was printed. The colonists were especially mad because Parliament taxed them without telling them, ignoring the colonial's self-government rights.

Eventually Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, but then made the Declaratory Act, and colonists were getting angrier and angrier. They were especially...