Skip to main content
History Extra logo
  • Subscribe
  • Newsletter sign up
  • Download app
  • Join our Academy
History Extra logo
The official website for BBC History Magazine
  • Period
    • Back to Main menu
    • Ancient Egypt
    • Roman
    • Viking
    • Anglo-Saxon
    • Medieval
    • Tudor
    • Elizabethan
    • Georgian
    • Victorian
    • Second World War
      • Back to Period
      • Browse all periods
  • People
    • Back to Main menu
    • Tutankhamun
    • Richard III
    • Henry VIII
    • Elizabeth I
    • Queen Victoria
    • Winston Churchill
    • Cleopatra
    • Napoleon Bonaparte
      • Back to People
      • Browse all people
  • Topics
    • Back to Main menu
    • Kings and queens
    • Weird and wonderful
    • Sex and love
    • Social history
    • Religious history
    • Women's history
    • Historical Q&As
    • Heritage visits
    • History hero
    • Historical recipes
    • Turning points in British History
      • Back to Topics
      • Browse all topics
  • Video
  • Podcast
    • Back to Main menu
    • All podcasts
    • Podcast series
  • Quizzes
  • Membership
    • Back to Main menu
    • Membership area
    • Member discounts
    • Join HistoryExtra
    • BBC History Mag
    • Academy
      • Back to Membership
      • Tudor life with Ruth Goodman
      • WW1 myths and misconceptions | HistoryExtra Academy
      • Royal residences: secrets and scandals
      • Nazi Germany
      • Victorian Life with Ruth Goodman
      • Late-medieval England course
      • Roman Britain course
      • D-Day course
      • Witchcraft course
      • Elizabethans course
      • Vikings course
      • Regency course
  • Subscribe
  • Newsletter sign up
  • Download app
  • Join our Academy
  • Home
  • Period
  • American Revolution

American Revolution

American Revolution banner Update

The American Revolutionary War (1775–83) began when representatives from 13 North American colonies of the kingdom of Great Britain sought more autonomy within the British Empire.

Below, read expert articles from historians about the colonies’ 18th-century fight for independence – from the events that led to war, to key battles and figures…

Premium
Membership

Who shot first?Lexington and Concord.

Minutemen facing British soldiers on Lexington common
Georgian

What happened at the battles of Lexington and Concord?

Premium
Membership

Who was the greatest President of the United States in history?.

General Modernaudio

How did the US get so many guns?

US founding father Benjamin Franklin
Georgian

Q&AWhy was Benjamin Franklin rumoured to be a serial killer?

A depiction of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. John Adams, Roger Sherman Robert R Livingston, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.
Georgian

Why does the United States of America celebrate Independence Day on 4 July?

A depiction of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. John Adams, Roger Sherman Robert R Livingston, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.
Georgian

Your guide to the 1776 American Declaration of Independence

Premium
Membershipaudio

Benjamin Franklin: life of the week.

Premium
General Andrew Jackson (on horseback) led US forces to victory over the British at the battle of New Orleans on 8 January 1815 (Photo by Pierce Archive LLC/Buyenlarge via Getty Images)
Membership

Regency Britain: An age of war and revolution.

A portrait of George Robert Twelves Hewes
Georgian

George Robert Twelves Hewes: the shoemaker who became a patriot

Read more

Podcasts about the American Revolution

Premium
Membershipaudio

Benjamin Franklin: portrait of a revolutionary.

Premium
Membershipaudio

The American Revolutionary War: everything you wanted to know.

Premium
Membershipaudio

George III: the tyrant who lost America?.

Premium
Treaty Of Paris, 1783, by Benjamin West (Photo by Granger/REX/Shutterstock)
Membershipaudio

Brexit and American independence.

History Extra logo
  • Visit us on Facebook
  • Visit us on Twitter
  • Visit us on Instagram
  • Visit us on Youtube
  • Visit us on Rss
  • About Us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Code of Conduct
  • History Magazine Subscriptions
  • FAQ
  • Contact Us
  • Vacancies
  • Licensing
  • Find Us
  • Accessibility
  • Manage Privacy Settings
Immediate company logo in white
History Extra is owned and published by Immediate Media Company Limited. BBC History Magazine is published by Immediate Media Company Limited under licence from BBC Studios Distribution© Immediate 2025