American Revolution (jun 4, 1765 – jun 4, 1783)

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The American Revolution was a colonial revolt that took place between 1765 and 1783. The American Patriots in the Thirteen Colonies won independence from Great Britain, becoming the United States of America. The revolution came about because the Americans rejected the authority of the British Parliament to tax them because they lacked representation in Parliament. Protests escalated to the burning of the Gaspee in Rhode Island in 1772, followed by the Boston Tea Party in 1773. By 1774, the Patriots set up their own alternative government to better coordinate their efforts against Great Britain. Those who were not Patriots and decided to side with Britain were known as Loyalists. The actual American Revolutionary War did not start till 1775. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 formally ended the conflict, confirming the new nation's complete separation from the British empire. This resistance of imperial power was necessary for the evolution of liberalism because it allowed people to realize that you do not have to live under a monarch like most people had been for so long. It introduced new political possibilities. We can see this in how the American Revolution affected France. in 1789, French citizens rebelled. Many French citizens saw the Americans as an example.