By the mid-1700s, settlers had established thirteen colonies in America. The colonies, all under British control, were located along the Atlantic shore, extending from present-day Maine in the north to Georgia in the south. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire were the New England Colonies; the Middle Colonies were Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware; and the Southern Colonies included Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

The Atlantic Ocean served as a 3,000-mile-wide buffer between Britain and its colonies. Letters from Britain to the colonies took five weeks to arrive, moving slowly across the Atlantic on sailing ships. This great gap in distance and time allowed the colonists to develop self-sufficiency (the ability to provide for one's own needs) and considerable self-confidence.

During the first half of the 1700s, Britain was preoccupied with struggles in Europe and basically ignored its colonies...