U.S. History · Middle school, high school and introductory college history
American Revolution Study Guide
The American Revolution grew out of a dispute over who had the right to tax and govern the colonies after the costly French and Indian War. Britain’s new taxes and laws, and the colonists’ claim of no taxation without representation, escalated from protest to war in 1775. The colonies declared independence in 1776 and won it, with French help, in a war that ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
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Play American Revolution DemoKey terms
- French and Indian War
- War between Britain and France in North America (1754 to 1763). Britain won but was left with large debts, which led it to tax the colonies.
- Proclamation of 1763
- British order that barred colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains.
- Stamp Act
- 1765 British law taxing printed materials in the colonies, protested as taxation without representation.
- Taxation without representation
- The colonists’ complaint that Parliament taxed them even though they had no elected members in it.
- Boycott
- Refusal to buy goods, used by colonists to pressure Britain to repeal taxes.
- Sons of Liberty
- Colonial protest group that organized resistance to British taxes, including the Stamp Act.
- Boston Massacre
- 1770 clash in which British soldiers killed five colonists. It was used in colonial arguments against the troops in Boston.
- Boston Tea Party
- 1773 protest in which colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor.
- Intolerable Acts
- 1774 British laws punishing Massachusetts after the Boston Tea Party. Colonists called them intolerable.
- First Continental Congress
- 1774 meeting of delegates from twelve colonies who organized a response to the Intolerable Acts, including a boycott of British goods.
- Battles of Lexington and Concord
- April 1775 clashes that began the armed fighting of the Revolutionary War.
- Common Sense
- January 1776 pamphlet by Thomas Paine that argued plainly for independence from Britain.
- Declaration of Independence
- 1776 document announcing the colonies’ separation from Great Britain and explaining why. Thomas Jefferson was its main author.
- Battle of Saratoga
- 1777 American victory that is often called the turning point of the war because it helped persuade France to ally with the colonies.
- Battle of Yorktown
- 1781 battle in which American and French forces trapped a British army. It was the last major battle of the war.
- Treaty of Paris (1783)
- Agreement that ended the Revolutionary War and recognized American independence.
The timeline, in order
- 11763: the French and Indian War ends and the Proclamation of 1763 is issued.
- 21765: the Stamp Act, and colonial protests and boycotts.
- 31770: the Boston Massacre.
- 41773: the Boston Tea Party.
- 51774: the Intolerable Acts and the First Continental Congress.
- 61775: Lexington and Concord, and the Second Continental Congress.
- 71776: Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence.
- 81777: the Battle of Saratoga. 1778: France allies with the colonies.
- 91781: the Battle of Yorktown.
- 101783: the Treaty of Paris.
The big argument: who may tax whom
After the French and Indian War Britain wanted the colonies to help pay its debt and the cost of defending them. Colonists said they had always taxed themselves through their own assemblies, and that Parliament, where they had no elected members, had no right to tax them. Britain answered that Parliament governed the whole empire. Each new law made the same disagreement bigger.
Almost every cause on a test is a version of this one question: who has the right to tax and govern the colonies?
What the Declaration of Independence says
- •People have natural rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
- •Governments get their power from the consent of the governed.
- •When a government abuses those rights, people may change or abolish it.
- •A long list of grievances against King George III shows why the colonies are separating.
It was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.
Why the colonists could win
- •Alliance with France after Saratoga brought money, supplies, soldiers and a navy.
- •Britain fought across an ocean, which made supply and communication slow.
- •Colonial forces did not have to defeat Britain outright, only to outlast its will to continue.
Common mistakes
Mistake: The Boston Tea Party protested a high price for tea.
It protested the Tea Act and Parliament’s right to tax the colonies. The Act actually made taxed tea cheaper, but colonists objected to the principle and to a favored monopoly.
Mistake: The Declaration of Independence set up the new government.
It announced the separation and explained why. The Articles of Confederation and later the Constitution set up governments.
Mistake: The war began with the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Fighting began in April 1775 at Lexington and Concord, more than a year earlier.
Mistake: Every colonist supported independence.
Colonists were divided into Patriots, Loyalists who stayed loyal to Britain, and many who were undecided.
Mistake: The Revolution ended at Yorktown.
Yorktown was the last major battle, in 1781, but the war officially ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1783.