The American Revolution was a war of independence by those living in the 13 colonies of America against Great Britain. Those living in the were especially angry about taxes the British were them to pay. People felt taxes were unfair there was no colonial representation in the British . One tax was the stamp tax, which taxed materials such as newspapers. The colonists called this " without representation". Colonists who wanted freedom from English were known as Patriots. Those who supported British were known as Loyalists. Before full scale war out, there were many acts of protest by , like the Boston Tea Party when Bostonians boarded ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into harbor because of a tea tax. On April the first shots were fired in Lexington and , Massachusetts, which officially started the war.

Many people involved in the struggle for independence. Benjamin Franklin, Jefferson, and John Adams worked together to write Declaration of Independence. On July 4, 1776, patriots themselves free. Most people know George Washington was first president of the United States. Before that was the commander in chief of the patriot . Most of the battles in the American Revolution fought in the northeast in places near Boston, New York.

The British, known as redcoats because their red uniform jackets, had help from German soldiers called Hessians. Patriots had support from other . France entered the American Revolution on the side the colonists in 1778. This helped force the surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1779. However, fighting not formally end until 1783 with the Treaty Paris when Great Britain recognized the United States an independent nation.