Changes

{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="300" style="margin-left:5px"

{{War

|align="center" colspan="2"|[[Image:AmRev Logo.PNG|300px]]

| image      = AmRev Logo.PNG

|-

| conflict    =  

!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: gray  no-repeat scroll top left;"|American Revolutionary War

| date        = April 19, 1775 - September 13, 1783<br>(8 years)

| victor      = [[American]]s

}}

|19 April 1775

|-

|13 September 1783 (8 years)

|-

|}

The '''American Revolution''' (1775–1783) was the process by which the thirteen American colonies became an independent nation, the United States of America.  It involved new ideas, based on [[republicanism]], and required victory in a long war with [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]]. After the fighting raged for a year the Americans declared independence on July 4, 1776, as a separate nation, and formed an alliance with France that equalized the military and naval strengths of the two sides.  

The '''American Revolution''' (1775–1783) was the process by which the thirteen American colonies became an independent nation, the United States of America.  It involved new ideas, based on [[republicanism]], and required victory in a long war with [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]]. After the fighting raged for a year the Americans declared independence on July 4, 1776, as a separate nation, and formed an alliance with France that equalized the military and naval strengths of the two sides.  

Most "revolutions" in history, like the later French Revolution of the 1790s, involve the overthrow of an old social structure in the search for freedom.  Not this one. This one was designed to protect freedoms that colonists recognized as a creation of [[Natural Law|God's Law]], in their largely self-governing colonies. As Gordon Wood (1966) explains, "The Revolution had taken place not in a succession of eruptions that had crumbled the existing social structure, but in a succession of new thoughts and new ideas that had vindicated the social structure."<ref>Wood, "Rhetoric" (1966) p 6</ref>  Those "new thoughts and new ideas" comprised "[[republicanism]]."

Most "revolutions" in history, like the later French Revolution of the 1790s, involve the overthrow of an old social structure in the search for freedom.  Not this one. This one was designed to protect freedoms that colonists recognized as a creation of [[Natural Law|God's Law]], in their largely self-governing colonies. As Gordon Wood (1966) explains, "The Revolution had taken place not in a succession of eruptions that had crumbled the existing social structure, but in a succession of new thoughts and new ideas that had vindicated the social structure."<ref>Wood, "Rhetoric" (1966) p 6</ref>  Those "new thoughts and new ideas" comprised "[[republicanism]]."

[[Image:american-revolution-map.gif|thumb|200px|The 13 colonies in 1775]]

[[File:american-revolution-map.gif|thumb|200px|The 13 colonies in 1775]]

==Causes==

==Causes==

===Acts of Parliament===

===Acts of Parliament===