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The exact nature and extent of the American Revolution is a matter of interpretation. It is generally agreed that the Revolution originated around the time of the French and Indian War ( 1754– 1763), and ended with the election of George Washington as the first President of the United States in 1789. Beyond that, interpretations vary. At one end of the spectrum is the view that the American Revolution was not revolutionary at all, that it did not radically transform colonial society, but simply replaced a distant government with a local one. The opposite view is that the American Revolution was a unique and radical event, producing significant changes that had a profound impact on world history. Most current interpretations fall somewhere in between these two positions.
Before the Revolution: The Thirteen ColoniesBetsy Ross purportedly sewed the first American flag with 13 stars and 13 stripes representing each of the 13 colonies. Details such as the stars' arrangement, size, and shape varied widely among different makers. The Thirteen Colonies were 13 British col are in red, the pink area was claimed by Great Britain after the French and Indian War, and the orange region was claimed by SpainThe Kingdom of Spain is a country located in the southwest of Europe. It shares the Iberian Peninsula with Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra. To the northeast, along the Pyrenees mountain range, it borders France and the tiny principality of Andorra. It inc. (Map produced by U.S. Dept. of Interior.)
Main article: Colonial AmericaFor colonies not part of the 13 colonies see European colonization of the Americas or British colonization of the Americas. Starting in the late 16th century, the British began to colonize North America. The first attempts, notably the Colony of Roanoke,
In the early 1760s, Great BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain was created by the merger of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England in 1707 (see Act of Union 1707). A single parliament and government, based in Westminster in London, ran the entire kingdom. They had shared a monarch si possessed a vast empireBritish North America originally comprised all British colonies and territories on the North American continent, from Georgia to Labrador and Rupert's Land. It stood in contrast to Russian North America ( Alaska and parts of California) and to Spanish Nor on the North American continent. In addition to the thirteen British colonies, victory in the Seven Years' WarThis article is about the 1756 1763 war. For the 1592 1598 war in Korea, see Seven Year War. The Seven Years' War ( 1756 1763) pitted Great Britain, Prussia and Hanover against France, Austria, Russia, Sweden, and Saxony. It was the first " world war"; mo had given Great Britain claim over New FranceNew France ( French: la Nouvelle-France describes the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 to the cession of New France to the Kingdom of Great Brit ( CanadaCanada historically the Dominion of Canada is the second-largest, and northernmost, country in the world. It is a decentralized federation of 10 provinces and 3 territories, governed as a constitutional monarchy, and formed in 1867 through an act of Confe), Spanish Florida, and the Native American lands east of the Mississippi River. A war against France's former Indian allies— Pontiac's Rebellion—had, if not conquered, at least pacified the western frontier. Most white colonists in America considered themselves loyal subjects of the British Crown, with the same rights and obligations as people in Britain.