The American Revolution, also known as the Revolutionary War, was one of the most significant events in American history. Without it, the United States of America may not have come into existence.

1760 King George III Ascends to the

throne of England.

1763 Treaty Between England and France signed ending the French and Indian War. Canada and the continent east of the Mississippi River added to Britain's growing empire.

1765 Parliament passes The Stamp Act

as a Means to pay for British Troops on the American frontier. Colonists violently protest the measure.

1766 March 18. Stamp Act Repeal, But on the Same day parliament passes the Declaratory Act asserting STI right to make Laws binding on the colonies.

1768 October. British Troops arrive in Boston to enforce customs Laws.

1770 March. Four Workers shot by British Troops stationed in Boston. Patriots label the killings "The Boston Massacre." Patriots label the killings "The Boston Massacre."

1773 December. Massachusetts patriots dressed as Mohawk Indians protest the British Tea Act by dumping crates of tea Into Boston Harbor.

1774 January. The Privy Council reprimands Benjamin Franklin in London for leaking Damaging letters to the Royal Governor of Massachusetts. September. September. First Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia. First Continental Congress convene in Philadelphia.

1775 April. Shots fired at Lexington

and Concord. April. "Minute Men" force British troops back to Boston. George Washington takes command of the Continental Army.

1776

1777

1778 February. France signs the

Treaty of alliance with the United States and the American Revolution Becomes a world war.

1780

1781

1783

1785 1785-'86 Treaty talks with Spain

for rights to navigate the Mississippi fail because of regional conflicts between northern and southern states. 1785-'86 Treaty talks with Spain for rights to navigate the Mississippi regional fail Because of Conflicts Between northern and southern states

1786 1786-'87 Shay's Rebellion, an Armed insurrection of debt-ridden farmers "in Massachusetts, quash by the state militia.

1787

1788 The crucial states of Virginia (June 25) and New York (July 26) Become the 10th and 11th states to pass the Constitution.

1791 December. A Bill of Rights Passed by the 1st Congress of the United States.

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONA

RY WAR(1775 - 1783)

TheAmerican War of Independence was a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain

and thirteen British colonies on the North

American continent. The war was the culmination of the political American Revolution, whereby the colonists overthrew British rule. In 1775, Revolutionaries seized control of each of the thirteen colonial governments, set up the Second Continental Congress, and formed a Continental Army.

The following year, they formally declared their independence as a new nation, the United States of America. From 1778 onward, other European powers would fight on the American side in the war. Meanwhile, Native Americans and African Americans served on both sides.

Throughout the war, the British were able to use their naval superiority to capture and occupy coastal cities, but control of the countryside (where 90% of the population lived) largely eluded them due to their relatively small land army. In early 1778, shortly after an American victory at Saratoga, France entered the war against Britain; Spain and the Netherlands joined as allies of France over the next two years.

French involvement proved decisive, with a French naval victory in the Chesapeake leading to the surrender of a British army at Yorktown in 1781. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 ended the war and recognized the sovereignty of the United States over the territory bounded by what is now Canada to the north, Florida to the south, and the Mississippi River to the west.

The war of American independence could be summed up as a civil war fought on foreign soil, as opposing forces comprised both nations' residents. That said, it is a war that America could not have survived without French assistance. In addition, Britain had significant military disadvantages. Distance was a major problem: most troops and supplies had to be shipped across the Atlantic Ocean.

The British usually had logistical problems whenever they operated away from port cities, while the Americans had local sources of manpower and food and were more familiar with (and acclimated to) the territory. Additionally, ocean travel meant that British communications were always about two months out of date: by the time British generals in America received their orders from London, the military situation had usually changed.

Suppressing a rebellion in America also posed other problems. Since the colonies covered a large area and had not been united before the war, there was no central area of strategic importance. In Europe, the capture of a capital often meant the end of a war; in America, when the British seized cities such as New York and Philadelphia, the war continued unabated. Furthermore, the large size of the colonies meant that the British lacked the manpower to control them by force.

Once any area had been occupied, troops had to be kept there or the Revolutionaries would regain control, and these troops were thus unavailable for further offensive operations. The British had sufficient troops to defeat the Americans on the battlefield but not enough to simultaneously occupy the colonies.

This manpower shortage became critical after French and Spanish entry into the war, because British troops had to be dispersed in several theaters, where previously they had been concentrated in America.

The British also had the difficult task of fighting the war while simultaneously retaining the allegiance of Loyalists. Loyalist support was important, since the goal of the war was to keep the colonies in the British Empire, but this imposed numerous military limitations.

Early in the war, the Howe brothers served as peace commissioners while simultaneously conducting the war effort, a dual role which may have limited their effectiveness. Additionally, the British could have recruited more slaves and Native Americans to fight the war, but this would have alienated many Loyalists, even more so than the controversial hiring of German mercenaries.

The need to retain Loyalist allegiance also meant that the British were unable to use the harsh methods of suppressing rebellion they employed in Ireland and Scotland. Even with these limitations, many potentially neutral colonists were nonetheless driven into the ranks of the Revolutionaries because of the war.

This combination of factors led ultimately to the downfall of British rule in America and the rise of the revolutionaries' their independent nation, the United States of America.