Definition
The American Revolution was the political upheaval, lasting from about 1765 to 1783, in which thirteen British colonies in North America rejected British rule and established an independent nation, the United States of America. It included both a war for independence and a deeper revolution in political ideas.
The conflict turned on a principle: the colonists' insistence that they should not be taxed or governed without representation in the body that made those decisions.
Why it matters
How it works
The Revolution grew out of a dispute over authority. After costly wars, Britain sought new revenue from the colonies through taxes and trade controls. Colonists, lacking representation in Parliament, argued these measures were illegitimate. Protest escalated into boycotts, then organized resistance, then armed conflict.
The revolutionaries then had to do the harder work of building a government. Drawing on Enlightenment theory, they designed a republic with a written constitution, divided powers, and a claim to rest on popular consent — though that promise of liberty was not extended to enslaved people, and the contradiction would shape American history for generations.