The
American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which
thirteen colonies in
North America joined together to break free from the
British Empire, combining to become the
United States of America. They first rejected the authority of the
Parliament of Great Britain to govern them from overseas without representation, and then expelled all royal officials. By 1774, each colony had established a
Provincial Congress, or an equivalent governmental institution, to govern itself, but still within the empire. The British responded by sending combat troops to re-impose direct rule. Through representatives sent in 1775 to the
Second Continental Congress, the states joined together at first to defend their respective
self-governance and manage the armed conflict against the British known as the
American Revolutionary War. Ultimately, the states collectively determined that the British monarchy, by acts of
tyranny, could no longer
legitimately claim their
allegiance. They then severed ties with the British Empire in July 1776, when the Congress issued the
United States Declaration of Independence, rejecting the monarchy on behalf of the new
sovereign nation separate and external to the British Empire. The war ended with effective American victory in October 1781, followed by formal British abandonment of any claims to the United States with the
Treaty of Paris in 1783.
powered by
Loading More Stories
