State · 1775–1783
American Revolution and independence
Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall), Philadelphia
Quarrels between Britain and its Thirteen Colonies turned to war in April 1775. On 4 July 1776 the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, adopted the Declaration of Independence, drafted chiefly by Thomas Jefferson, which proclaimed that 'all men are created equal'.
With French, Spanish and Dutch support, George Washington's Continental Army won a decisive victory at Yorktown in 1781, and Britain recognised American independence in the Treaty of Paris of 3 September 1783.
Why it mattered
The revolution created the United States as a republic founded on Enlightenment ideas of natural rights and government by consent, and its Declaration has become one of the most circulated, reprinted and influential documents in history.
Related
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- American Revolutionary War 19 April 1775 – 3 September 1783
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