1. The American Revolution, also known as the Revolutionary War, began in 1775. 2.

British soldiers and American patriots started the war with battles at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. 3. Colonists in America wanted independence from England. 4. The British government attempted to pass some laws, enforce several taxes, and increase more control over the colonies. The colonies strongly objected to these laws and taxes. They wanted England to have no control over them. 5. For ten years before the war actually started, there was a lot of tension between England and the colonies. 6. The colonies had no central government at the beginning of the war, so delegates from all the colonies were sent to form the first Continental Congress. 7. George Washington, a former military officer and wealthy Virginian, was appointed Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. 8. Members of the Continental Congress wrote a letter to King George of England outlining their complaints and declaring their independence from England. 9. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, in which the colonies declared their independence from England. 10. The war ended in 1783, and the United States of America was born