From the moment that Europeans set foot on the North American continent in the sixteenth century, they began to expand their influence westward. By the mid-eighteenth century that expansion had progressed to the point that there were thirteen British colonies poised on the eastern coast of North America. These colonies had established themselves over a period of years by fighting a series of skirmishes with the Native American inhabitants of the region. By the 1760s they had largely carved out their geographic boundaries, which generally stretched from the east coast of North America to the crest of the Appalachian Mountains. But the population of these colonies continued to grow, fed not only by internal population growth but also by a continued stream of immigrants from England and other European countries, including Germany, Holland, Ireland, and Scotland...