From the Empire State have come major influences on almost every aspect of American life. Particularly advantageous landforms and waterways enabled the explorers and settlers and entrepreneurs of early New York to move ahead of others, and the strategic location of New York City with its outstanding harbor also helped the state reach dominance. But as the author of this book shows, almost from the beginning on the tip of Manhattan Island, New York has benefited from the varied talents of successive influxes of diverse ethnic and racial groups. In conflict though they often were, they have also been a source of hte state's cultural richness and economic strength.

In the American colonies of the 1770s, people were fed up with British laws. Local farmers and tradesmen secretly formed a militia. In 1775, when the British marched into Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, the Americans were ready. From that first battle to the final showdown at Yorktown, the Americans fought against tremendous odds. The British army was bigger and better trained. Food and guns were scarce. But George Washington’s ragged army fought for–and won–the freedom and independence we cherish to this day.Illustrated with black-and-white photographs, the tale of our country's fight for independence is brought to life in fast-moving, dramatic detail.