American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also referred to as the American War of Independence and the Revolutionary War in the United States, was an armed conflict between Great Britain and thirteen of its North American colonies that after onset of the war declared independence as the United States of America.

The American Revolution had led to increasing philosophical and political differences between Great Britain and its American colonies. The war represented the culmination of these differences in armed conflict between Patriots and the royal authority against which they increasingly resisted. This resistance became particularly widespread in the New England Colonies, especially the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Patriot protests escalated into boycotts, and, on December 16, 1773, Massachusetts members of the Patriot group Sons of Liberty destroyed a shipment of tea in Boston Harbor in an event that became known as the Boston Tea Party. The British government retaliated by closing the port of Boston and enacting punitive measures against Massachusetts, including the dissolution of its charter and the prohibition of its traditional, democratic town meetings. Named the Coercive Acts by Parliament, they were known as the Intolerable Acts in America. The Massachusetts colonists responded with the Suffolk Resolves, establishing a shadow government that removed control of the province from the Crown outside of Boston. Twelve colonies formed a Continental Congress to coordinate their resistance, and established committees and conventions that effectively seized power.

British attempts to seize the munitions of Massachusetts colonists in April 1775 led to the first open combat between Crown forces and Massachusetts militia, the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Militia forces proceeded to besiege the British forces in Boston, forcing them to evacuate the city in March 1776. The Continental Congress appointed George Washington to take command of the militia. Later, he was appointed as commander-in-chief of the newly formed Continental Army, as well as coordinating state militia units. Concurrent to the Boston campaign, an American attempt to invade Quebec and raise rebellion against the British Crown decisively failed. On July 2, 1776, Congress formally voted for independence, issuing its Declaration on July 4.