How it fits together
European colonists arrived in lands already inhabited by many Native nations. Their motives included religion, opportunity, and political freedom. Colonial society also depended on the forced labor of enslaved Africans, showing the gap between the language of liberty and the rights people actually enjoyed.
A closer look
Disputes over taxation and British authority helped lead to the Revolution. Fighting began in 1775, and the Declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776. Independence was a process involving war and diplomacy, not a single day when every problem was resolved.