The American Revolutionary War, also known as the American War of Independence, was initiated by the 13 original colonies in Congress against the Kingdom of Great Britain over their objection to Parliament's direct taxation and its lack of colonial representation.[n] From their founding in the 17th century, the colonies were largely left to govern themselves. As conflict with New France expanded, the costs of their defense increased. After the inconclusive French and Indian War, Parliament and the colonies disputed how these expenses should be paid. Measures such as the 1765 Stamp Act to increase government revenues provoked unrest that culminated in the 1773 Boston Tea Party. When Parliament responded by imposing punitive measures on Massachusetts, 12 colonies set up the First Continental Congress which agreed to boycott British goods.
In June 1775, the Second Continental Congress appointed George Washington to create a Continental Army and oversee the capture of Boston. When their Olive Branch Petition was rejected, passed the Declaration of Independence in July 1776. British commander-in-chief, General Sir William Howe then launched a counter-offensive, capturing New York City. Washington retaliated with harassing attacks at Trenton and Princeton. Howe's 1777–1778 Philadelphia campaign captured that city, but the British were defeated at Saratoga in October 1777 resulting in the capture of a British Army.
With the British defeat at Saratoga, the French quickly entered an Alliance with the Americans and following a British declaration of war in March 1778, France began the process of a direct intervention in America with approximately 30,000 French Soldiers assembled and launched a major offensive in the Southern Colonies in 1779 and in October they were able to retake Savannah from British Forces forcing them back north until they were surrounded at Yorktown by a Joint French-American Army and their only escape route blocked by the French Navy resulting in the surrender of the last British Army in the 13 colonies in October 1780 and Britain signing the 1781 Treaty of Paris, acknowledging American Independence.