The flag of the United States is the Stars and Stripes. Why are there 13 stripes on the Stars and Stripes?

We know that the flag of the United States is the Stars and Stripes, and its pattern consists of two parts: "stars and stripes". There are many white stars arranged on the blue background in the upper left corner of the flag, and the rest of the flag is 13 red and white stripes. Why are there 13 stripes on the American Stars and Stripes?

The United States is a country of immigrants. Since Columbus discovered the American continent, colonists from Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, France, and Britain have invaded one after another. The original indigenous inhabitants, the Indians, have either been massacred or driven away. Remote areas. Britain played an important role in the colonization of America.

At the beginning of the 17th century, Britain began to immigrate to America. In 1606, some large British merchants and large landowners organized the "London Company" and the "Plymouth Company". They obtained charters from the King of England and obtained the privilege of establishing colonies in North America. In 1607, a colonial team sent by the "London Company" established the first colony, Virginia, on the east coast of North America. By 1733, British colonists spread from the Atlantic coast in the east to the Appalachian Mountains in the west. , has established 13 colonies, they are: Virginia, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, Delaware, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

Originally, these 13 colonies operated independently under British rule and had no political connections with each other. But by the 18th century, after one or two hundred years of social exchanges, especially economic ties, they gradually merged and formed the American nation. But the British rulers only wanted to extract money from the North American colonies and expropriated the people here. In 1763, the British issued an order declaring the land west of the Appalachian Mountains to be royal property, prohibiting people from 13 states from immigrating there, and promulgated the Sugar Ordinance, Barracks Ordinance, Stamp Duty Ordinance, etc. to suppress the development of colonial capitalist economy. It aroused strong resistance from the colonial people.

On April 18, 1775, the gunfire at Lexington marked the beginning of the North American War of Independence. The Second Continental Congress appointed Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, established the Continental Army, and launched an armed struggle for independence. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress passed the Declaration of Independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson, a famous bourgeois democrat. The declaration listed various tyrannies of the British Crown government and finally declared to the world: "These united colonies will henceforth be united. Be, and rightly ought to be, a free and independent United States." The adoption and publication of the Declaration of Independence marked the birth of the United States. July 4th was later designated as the National Day of the United States. The original 13 North American colonies became the earliest 13 states of the United States of America. At the time of independence, the United States had an area of ??only 900,000 square kilometers. In 1777, the official flag pattern of the United States was: the flag field has 7 alternating red stripes and 6 white stripes, with 13 stars arranged on a blue background in the upper left corner. The 13 stripes and 13 stars symbolize the original 13 states.

After eight years of hard work, the War of Independence was victorious. Later, the United States continued to expand its territory outwards by means of "purchase," seizure, war, plunder, and annexation, until today it has 9.36 million square kilometers of land in 50 states. In 1818, the U.S. Congress decided that the 13 red and white stripes on the flag would remain unchanged, but the number of white stars would change according to the number of states in the country. For each additional state, one star would be added. In 1912, there were 48 white stars on the flag. In 1958, Alaska became the 49th state. In 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state. Therefore, there are currently 50 white stars on the American flag, but there are still 13 stripes on the flag.