American Revolution Begins
The 'shot heard round the world' at Lexington and Concord started the American Revolution
April 19, 1775
The Shot Heard Round the World
The American Revolutionary War began on April 19, 1775, with the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. British troops had marched from Boston to seize colonial weapons stored at Concord and to arrest rebel leaders. At Lexington, about 77 militiamen confronted approximately 700 British Regulars on the town common. A shot was fired, its origin disputed to this day, and the British opened fire. Eight militiamen were killed. The British continued to Concord, where they were met by a larger force of colonial militia at the North Bridge. The British were repulsed and retreated to Boston under continual attack from militiamen firing from behind stone walls and trees along the road.
The Roots of the Revolution
The conflict had been building for over a decade. After the Seven Years' War ended in 1763, Britain sought to make its American colonies pay more toward the costs of their defense. A series of new taxes, including the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767, provoked fierce opposition from colonists who argued that they should not be taxed by a Parliament in which they had no representation. Protests, boycotts, and incidents like the Boston Massacre of 1770 and the Boston Tea Party of 1773 escalated tensions to the breaking point. The British government responded by closing Boston's port and suspending Massachusetts's self-governance.
From Colonies to Nation
The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in May 1775 and appointed George Washington as commander of the Continental Army. After a year of fighting, the Congress formally declared independence on July 4, 1776. The war lasted until the Battle of Yorktown in October 1781, where Washington and French forces trapped a British army under Lord Cornwallis and forced its surrender. The Treaty of Paris, signed in September 1783, formally ended the war and recognized the independence of the United States. The revolution inspired subsequent independence and republican movements around the world, most immediately the French Revolution of 1789. Use the age calculator to see how long ago independence was declared.