The Start of the American Revolution: The History of the Events and Battles that Sparked the Revolutionary War

The American Revolution is replete with seminal moments that every American learns in school, from the “shot heard ‘round the world” to the Declaration of Independence, but the events that led up to the fighting at Lexington & Concord were the products of 10 years of division between the British and their American colonies over everything from colonial representation in governments to taxation, the nature of searches, and the quartering of British regulars in private houses. From 1764-1775, a chain of events that included lightning rods like the Townshend Acts led to bloodshed in the form of the Boston Massacre, while the Boston Tea Party became a symbol of nonviolent protest.

The political and military nature of the Revolutionary War was just as full of intrigue. Disorganized militias fought the Battles of Lexington & Concord, George Washington would lead the Continental Army in the field, men like Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, and Benjamin Franklin negotiated overseas in France. Benedict Arnold would become one of his nation’s most vital war heroes and its most notorious traitor, French forces would play a crucial role at the end of the war, and the Treaty of Paris would conclude the Revolution with one last great surprise. 

Although cooler heads eventually prevailed and war was averted in the wake of the Powder Alarm, that long forgotten event has been called a “dress rehearsal” of sorts for what would transpire on April 19, 1775, arguably the most momentous day in American history. April 19 began with midnight riders spreading an alarm about a British raid headed for Concord, and by the end of the day, the British column was fleeing for their lives back to the vicinity of Boston as thousands of militiamen headed to cut them off and surround them. By the time the sun went down, 10 years of strife between the 13 colonies and Great Britain finally boiled over into pitched battle and the start of the American Revolution.