quote: In this article, the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans," with occasional references to "Patriots," "Whigs," "Rebels" or "Revolutionaries." Colonists who supported the British in opposing the Revolution are usually referred to as "Loyalists" or "Tories." (See section 2 below for a detailed explanation.) The geographical area of the thirteen colonies that both groups shared is often referred to simply as "America."

The revolutionary era began in 1763, when the French military threat to British North American colonies ended. Adopting the policy that the colonies should pay an increased proportion of the costs associated with keeping them in the Empire, Britain imposed a series of taxes followed by other laws that proved extremely unpopular. Because the colonies lacked elected representation in the governing British Parliament many colonists considered the laws to be illegitimate and a violation of their rights as Englishmen. Beginning in 1772, Patriot groups began to create committees of correspondence, which would lead to their own Provincial Congress in each of most of the colonies. In the course of two years, the Provincial Congresses or their equivalents effectively replaced the British ruling apparatus in the former colonies, culminating in 1774 with the unifying Continental Congress.

After Patriot protests in Boston over British attempts to assert authority, the British sent combat troops, the states mobilized their militias, and fighting broke out in 1775. Although Loyalists were estimated to comprise 15-20% of the population, throughout the war the Patriots generally controlled 80-90% of the territory; the British could hold only a few coastal cities for any extended period of time. In 1776, representatives from each of the original thirteen independent states voted unanimously to adopt a Declaration of Independence, by which they established the United States. The Americans formed an alliance with France in 1778 that evened the military and naval strengths, later bringing Spain and the Dutch Republic into the conflict by their own alliance with France. Two main British armies were captured by the Continental Army, at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781, leading to peace with the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

The American Revolution included a series of broad intellectual and social shifts that occurred in the early American society, such as the new republican ideals that took hold in the American population. In some colonies, sharp political debates broke out over the role of democracy in government, with a number of even the most liberal Founding Fathers fearing mob rule. The American shift to republicanism, as well as the gradually expanding democracy, caused an upheaval of the traditional social hierarchy, and created the ethic that formed the core of American political values.