Description

The Revolutionary War (1775-83), also known as the American Revolution, arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain’s 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown. It was at once a war for independence, a civil war, and a world war, fought by neighbors on American farms, and between global powers an ocean away. France entered the war on the side of the colonists in 1778, turning what had essentially been a civil war into an international conflict. After, French assistance helped the Continental Army force the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781.

The American Revolution impacted millions of citizens from Vermont’s Green Mountains to the swamps of South Carolina. In defeating the British Empire and giving birth to a new nation, the war turned the world upside-down. Thirteen colonies on the Atlantic Coast united in rebellion, won their independence, and secured our nation’s independence, establishing a government rooted in the ideals of liberty, equality, civic responsibility and self-government.