: High-ranking American general who famously defected to the British in 1780. Global Legacy
: Influenced by Enlightenment ideals, colonists championed liberty, equality, and self-governance. Timeline of Key Events
: The British monarch whose policies the colonists resisted.
Final major battle; French and American forces trapped British General Cornwallis. Treaty of Paris
The war grew from more than a decade of tension over British attempts to assert greater control after years of "salutary neglect". Key drivers included:
Adopted on July 4; formally broke ties with the British Crown. Battle of Saratoga
: The Intolerable Acts (1774) , designed to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party , led to the formation of the First Continental Congress .
: Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army and later the first U.S. President.