“April 19, 1775, marked the end of an era. At dawn that day, British troops fired on American colonists in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. This was the beginning of the American Revolution. The war started as a fight for the rights of English people in Britain’s 13 American colonies. But those people soon declared—and won—their independence from Britain. They created a new nation—the United States of America. The Founders Many people made American independence possible. A group of them are known as the founders of the United States. The best known are George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton. George Washington led the American military forces—the Continental Army—to victory over the British. He later became the first president of the United States. John Adams was the strongest supporter of American independence. He became the first vice president of the United States and its second president. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Americans’ Declaration of Independence. He became the nation’s third president. Benjamin Franklin was the oldest of the founders. He was 70 when the Declaration of Independence was signed. Franklin helped get France to become an ally of the United States. Both during and after the Revolution, Alexander Hamilton urged Americans to form a stronger union of the states.”