How exactly was it a war of independence?

Question

The American one that is. Weren't the Americans just the British a few generations on? Its almost like they were calling themselves a new ethnicity which technically they weren't but rather British with a few other European ethnicities thrown in there. It would be like humans colonising the moon under some 'Earth Empire' and then getting independence as a new race.

Answer 1

If you would read American history, you find out that the British government was laying heavy and unfair taxes on their colonies in America.  The colonists were upset because they didn't have representation in the British government to justify the taxes--hence the cry, "No taxation without representation!"  A lot was going on between the colonists and Great Britain as well.  The tea tax (causing the Boston tea party) and all the troops Britain sent over and forced the colonists to put up with were some of the last straws.  The colonists decided they wanted to make their own laws, taxes and government that they believed would be fairer.  Part of the problem was also the slow communication between the two countries--months of travel onboard ships.  The colonists also wanted more freedoms than Great Britian allowed in her own country (such as freedom of religion; also the knowledge that citizens would not have to house soldiers in their own homes, one of the things Great Britain did).  So they weren't trying to call themselves a new ethnicity, they just wanted fair taxes, laws and freedoms.