The American Revolution
The 1775–1783 war by which Britain's thirteen North American colonies broke away and founded the United States — and the model for a new kind of constitutional republic.
Origin
The colonies revolted over taxation without representation (the Boston Tea Party, 1773), parliamentary overreach, and political isolation from London. The Declaration of Independence (Thomas Jefferson, July 4, 1776) put the Enlightenment case for self-government on paper. The war was decided by the French intervention (Saratoga, 1777; Yorktown, 1781). The 1787 Constitution and the 1791 Bill of Rights then engineered a new kind of state — a federal republic with separation of powers and a written constitution. The American Revolution helped trigger the French one in 1789.
Modern usage
The civic-religion event of the United States — July 4 fireworks, founders' quotes (real and fabricated), 'we the people' as a constant reference. The phrase 'no taxation without representation' is invoked in every tax fight. The Federalist Papers are quoted by every Supreme Court generation. The colonial-tricorn-hat aesthetic survives in modern conservative movements (Tea Party, 2009).
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