American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War, which began on April 19, 1775, and lasted until September 3, 1783, is more often referred to as the Revolutionary War in the United States or the American War of Independence. This conflict was fought to win independence for the United States from Great Britain. The first battle was fought on April 19, 1775, and the Declaration of Independence was signed four years later on July 4, 1776. During a fight that was taking place in North America, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean, the Kingdom of France and, to a lesser degree, the Spanish Empire provided assistance for the American Patriots.

Trading with Britain and its Caribbean colonies, as well as other European powers via their Caribbean entrepôts, contributed to the economic prosperity of the American colonies after they were founded by charter in the 17th and 18th centuries. The American colonies also enjoyed a large degree of autonomy in their internal affairs. After the British won the Seven Years' War against the French in 1763, tensions began to arise between the motherland and her 13 colonies on commerce, policies in the Northwest Territory, and taxing measures such as the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts. The conflict between the colonies and the British resulted in the Boston Massacre in 1770. While the prior taxing measures were overturned, Parliament introduced the Tea Act in 1773, a step that led to the Boston Tea Party later that year. This occurred while the earlier taxation measures were repealed. In reaction, Parliament passed what came to be known as the "Intolerable Acts" in the middle of 1774. These laws resulted in the shutting of Boston Harbor, the revocation of Massachusetts' charter, and the establishment of direct British rule over the province.

Since the beginning of the uprising, France has offered the United States with informal economic and military assistance. Following the battle of Saratoga, the United States and France inked a trade partnership as well as a treaty of alliance in February 1778. In exchange for a promise of independence, the Congress of the United States pledged to support France in its worldwide conflict with Britain and to safeguard French colonies in the West Indies. In the Treaty of Aranjuez (1779), Spain formalised its alliance with France against Britain. Despite this, Spain did not legally join forces with the United States. Nevertheless, the Patriots were able to import weapons and supplies because they had access to ports in Spanish Louisiana. On the other hand, the Royal Navy was deprived of critical bases in the south as a result of the Spanish Gulf Coast campaign.

This resulted in the 1778 plan that Howe's successor, Sir Henry Clinton, had developed to take the war into the southern states of the United States being rendered ineffective. Cornwallis, although having some early success, was besieged by a Franco-American army at Yorktown by September 1781.