The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies on the North American continent (as well as some naval conflict). The war was the culmination of the political American Revolution, whereby the colonists overthrew British rule. In 1775, Revolutionaries seized control of each of the thirteen colonial governments, set up the Second Continental Congress, and formed a Continental Army. The following year, they formally declared their independence as a new nation, the United States of America. From 1778 onward, other European powers would fight on the American side in the war. Meanwhile, Native Americans and African Americans served on both sides.
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Throughout the war, the British were able to use their naval superiority to capture and occupy coastal cities, but control of the countryside (where 90% of the population lived) largely eluded them due to their relatively small land army. In early 1778, shortly after an American victory at Saratoga, France entered the war against Britain; Spain and the Netherlands joined as allies of France over the next two years. French involvement proved decisive, with a French naval victory in the Chesapeake leading to the surrender of a British army at Yorktown in 1781. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 ended the war and recognized the sovereignty of the United States over the territory bounded by what is now Canada to the north, Florida to the south, and the Mississippi River to the west.
The war of American independence could be summed up as a civil war fought on foreign soil, as opposing forces comprised both nations’ residents. That said, it is a war that America could not have survived without French assistance. In addition, Britain had significant military disadvantages. Distance was a major problem: most troops and supplies had to be shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. The British usually had logistical problems whenever they operated away from port cities, while the Americans had local sources of manpower and food and were more familiar with (and acclimated to) the territory. Additionally, ocean travel meant that British communications were always about two months out of date: by the time British generals in America received their orders from London, the military situation had usually changed.
Suppressing a rebellion in America also posed other problems. Since the colonies covered a large area and had not been united before the war, there was no central area of strategic importance. In Europe, the capture of a capital often meant the end of a war; in America, when the British seized cities such as New York and Philadelphia, the war continued unabated. Furthermore, the large size of the colonies meant that the British lacked the manpower to control them by force. Once any area had been occupied, troops had to be kept there or the Revolutionaries would regain control, and these troops were thus unavailable for further offensive operations. The British had sufficient troops to defeat the Americans on the battlefield but not enough to simultaneously occupy the colonies. This manpower shortage became critical after French and Spanish entry into the war, because British troops had to be dispersed in several theaters, where previously they had been concentrated in America.
The British also had the difficult task of fighting the war while simultaneously retaining the allegiance of Loyalists. Loyalist support was important, since the goal of the war was to keep the colonies in the British Empire, but this imposed numerous military limitations. Early in the war, the Howe brothers served as peace commissioners while simultaneously conducting the war effort, a dual role which may have limited their effectiveness. Additionally, the British could have recruited more slaves and Native Americans to fight the war, but this would have alienated many Loyalists, even more so than the controversial hiring of German mercenaries. The need to retain Loyalist allegiance also meant that the British were unable to use the harsh methods of suppressing rebellion they employed in Ireland and Scotland. Even with these limitations, many potentially neutral colonists were nonetheless driven into the ranks of the Revolutionaries because of the war. This combination of factors led ultimately to the downfall of British rule in America and the rise of the revolutionaries’ own independent nation, the United States of America.
Revolutionary War Societies, Websites and Links
- Explore millions of American Revolutionary War documents that are found nowhere else on the Internet.
, Discover details about individual soldiers, read letters penned by the Founding Fathers, view documents from The Continental Congress and more.
- Sons of the American Revolution (S.A.R.)
- Search Historical Newspapers from 1680 to the Revolutionary War period – Quickly find names and keywords in over 2,800 historical U.S. newspapers.
- Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.)
- Black Loyalist Heritage Society (blackloyalist.com)
- American Independence Museum
- Pictures of the Revolutionary War: Select Audiovisual Records
- United States History – covers the development of the United States from the history of early exploration through modern times. American historical people are presented in the context of the development of the American nation on political, economic, and social planes.
- Revolutionary War, History-based Travel, Road Trip Driving Tours of the American Revolution
Revolutionary War Online Records
The data below comes from Original Documents from the National Archives
- Search The Muster and Pay Rolls of the War of the Revolution, 1775-1783 Browse these rolls by state and name of organization (regiment, battalion, guard, company, etc.). Find names of soldiers with the help of annotations supplied by other Footnote users and feel free to add your own. Thousands of records from 138 rolls of microfilm provide names and details about the men who fought for independence.
- Search The Revolutionary War Prize Cases: Records of the Court of Appeal in Cases of Capture, 1776-1787During the American Revolution, armed vessels serving under individual colonies began to prey upon British commerce. The lack of courts for the condemnation of prizes taken by the Continental vessels was a source of annoyance to General Washington. He saw a need for speedy and regular condemnation of the prizes taken by all these ships to avoid conflict among colonies. The cases in this publication cover the appeals process that resulted for dealing with prize cases.
- Search Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the RevolutionThese are compiled service records for the regular soldiers of the Continental Army, and for the militia, volunteers, and others who served with them. The records are arranged under the designation “Continental Troops” or a state name, then by organization, and then alphabetically by a soldier’s surname. Records consist of card abstracts of entries relating to each soldier from original records. Also included are regimental lists including muster rolls, pay lists, and caption cards
- Search the Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application FilesThe records in this collection include entire pension files for soldiers and sailors who served in the Revolutionary War. Unlike selected service records, which were typically chosen subjectively for genealogical content, these records reveal more details about each veteran’s history and service, as well as more information about his family, state of health, and life after the war.
- Copybooks of George Washington’s Correspondence with Secretaries of State, 1789-1796
Explore events that preoccupied George Washington during his years as president through these letters. The correspondence includes items as simple as trip itineraries to more complex issues such as the conduct of the US in wars of other nations, and Thomas Jefferson’s opinion of the constitutionality of the Residence Act in 1790.
- Pennsylvania Archives
If you’re interested in Pennsylvania history and want information relating to historical events, facts about ancestors, or original documents to support a research paper, the Pennsylvania Archives is an important publication to explore. This series contains essential records relating to one of America’s earliest colonies, from 1664 to 1780, including military, tax, marriage, and land records, as well as documents from American history covering the Revolutionary War and the Whiskey Rebellion.
The data below comes from Ancestry.com:
- U.S. Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783
A collection of more than 425,000 records documenting men who fought for the colonies in the American Revolutionary War. - Search The Revolutionary War Pensioner Census, 1841
As part of the 1840 U.S. Federal Census, census takers obtained the names and ages of all the individuals in each household who served in the Revolutionary War or provided other military services. The information contained in this database is a compilation of the data on the Revolutionary War pensioners gathered from the 1840 census returns. The information is organized by place (state, county, then township) and lists the name and age of the veteran, and the name of the head of household with whom the pensioner resided on the census date. - Search The Revolutionary War Courts-Martials
The history of the American Revolution is familiar to any American citizen. This work contains the stories of the 3,315 men who did not meet the challenges of the war and were brought before military courts-martial. Even if an ancestor isn’t found in this book, this book reveals in part the context surrounding the Revolutionary War, giving it particular appeal to anyone whose ancestors were in the Revolutionary War. - Search The American Revolutionary War Rejected Pensions
During America’s struggle for freedom, thousands of men fought for the colonial government and many received pensions or bounty land grants for their service. This database is a listing of men who applied for a pension but were rejected. It was originally published in 1852 and was an expanded version of a book published in 1838. Each record provides the applicant’s name, state and town of residence, and the reason their petition was denied. It contains the names of over 8600 individuals. For researchers of Revolutionary War ancestors, this can be a helpful database. - Search The Loyalists in the American Revolution: Misc. Records
This is a mixture of various Loyalist databases. Loyalists were those individuals who fought on the side of the British during the American Revolution. The databases include both Canadian and British information: Muster Rolls of the 15th Regiment of Foot; 44th Regiment of Foot; 47th Regiment of Foot 48th Regiment of Foot, 1763; List of men in Sir John Johnston’s Brigade; Men From the Turloch Militia who Joined Kings Royal Rangers of New York and Butler’s Rangers; 1778 List of Men From Pennsylvania who joined the British Army. - Search The Revolutionary War Officers
The result of an act of Congress, this collection of Revolutionary War officers constitutes one of the most complete databases of its kind. With over 14,000 listings, this collection includes not only those who served in the Continental Army, but also many who served in the various state militias during the war. The men are organized by rank, with the signers of the Declaration of Independence also included. Each name is shown with the state in which they were born and the state in which they died, with dates showing each event respectively.
