American Revolutionary War

The American Revolution (1775 – 1783), also known as the American War for Independence, was a conflict primarily between Great Britain and thirteen of its colonies in North America, that lead to the creation of the United States of America.

Background
The United States were formed through British colonialism throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Interactions between the colonies and Great Britain were mostly peaceful throughout this period until the end of the French and Indian War in 1763.

The war was a result of political upheaval stemming from a series of direct taxes imposed by Great Britain toward its American colonies to pay off war debts accumulated during the French and Indian War. The colonists held these taxes as unconstitutional, rejecting the authority of the British Parliament to tax them without any representatives in the government, amounting to them having no say in the taxes being imposed upon them. During the following decade, protests by colonists continued to escalate and British responded by imposing punitive laws.

When protests in Boston, Massachusetts began over Britain's assertion of power, the city was placed under the direct military control. The Boston Massacre led to increased anti-British sentiment, and increased tensions leading up to the war. The armed conflict began when, in April 1775, the British learned of arms and ammunition being gathered in Concord for the local militia known as the "minutemen", resulting in the armed confrontations in Lexington and Concord.

On 4 July 1776, the Second Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence, rejecting the British monarchy and establishing the United States as a separate entity from the British Empire. Fighting ceased in 1781 when George Washington accepted the surrender of of British General Charles Cornwallis in Yorktown, Virginia. The revolution officially ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1783, resulting in American independence from Great Britain.