American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the military conflict of the American Revolution in which American Patriot forces under George Washington's command defeated the British, resulting in the Treaty of Paris (1783) recognizing the independence and sovereignty of the United States. Fighting began on April 19, 1775, at the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The war was formalized and intensified following passage of the Lee Resolution, which asserted that the Thirteen Colonies were "free and independent states", by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia on July 2, 1776, and the unanimous ratification of the Declaration of Independence two days later, on July 4, 1776. American patriot forces eventually gained the support of the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of Spain. The British and Loyalist forces also included Hessian soldiers from Germany. The conflict was fought in North America, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean. The American colonies were established by royal charter in the 17th and 18th centuries. They were initially largely autonomous in domestic affairs and commercially prosperous, trading with Britain, its Caribbean colonies, and other European powers via their Caribbean entrepôts. After the British gained victory over the French in the Seven Years' War in 1763, tensions and disputes arose between Britain and the colonies over the lack of political representation in the homeland and policies related to trade, trans-Appalachian settlement, and taxation, including the Stamp and Townshend Acts. Resulting British military occupation led to the Boston Massacre in 1770, which strengthened American Patriots' desire for independence from Britain. The British responded by repealing earlier taxation measures, but in 1773, the British Parliament adopted the Tea Act to demonstrate supremacy, a measure which led to the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773. In response, the British Parliament imposed the Intolerable Acts in mid-1774, closed Boston Harbor, and revoked Massachusetts' charter, which placed the colony under the British monarchy's direct governance. These measures rallied the other colonies, 12 of which sent delegates to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia in early September 1774 to protest the measures and deliberate on potential responses.