The American Revolution

The American Revolution ranks among the significant events in world history. During the 1760s and 1770s, American colonists became dissatisfied with British rule, believing that they had been deprived of their liberties and their right to participate in governing themselves. In 1776, the colonists declared themselves an independent nation, and, over the next seven years, fought a war to make their independence a reality by forcing Great Britain to surrender its control over the colonies.

The revolutionaries believed that the British government had become corrupt and hostile to their liberties. They sought to restore good government (a useful way to think of this revolution is to think of the revolution of a wheel, or a planet: the revolutionaries believed that they were returning government to its original, just basis.) On the other hand, the American Revolution was also a stunning event, one that resulted in the creation of a new form of government, in which government, in principle, existed to protect and serve citizens' interests.

In many respects the American revolution was a resounding success. The colonists not only won their independence, but the government of the United States has proved remarkably enduring. Still, the stability of the new nation was by no means assured when the American Revolution officially concluded in 1783. Instead, the new nation faced a host of difficult problems, including the need for an effective national government and the delicate task of balancing the interests of large and small states. Many Americans in the 1790s foresaw that the new nation was unlikely to survive intact.