Key Concepts & Self-Assessment15 Key Facts
Review key American Revolution (1776), Declaration of Independence & Constitution exam facts and rate your mastery to track revision.
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#1
The colonial protest against parliamentary taxation without representation culminated in the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773.
#2
Thomas Jefferson authored the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.
#3
George Washington commanded the Continental Army, achieving decisive victories at Trenton, Princeton, and Yorktown (1781).
#4
The Treaty of Paris (1783) concluded the Revolutionary War, with Great Britain formally recognizing the sovereignty of the United States.
#5
The 1787 Philadelphia Convention framed the US Constitution, establishing a tri-partite federal system and the 1791 Bill of Rights.
#6
The British Parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765 and the Townshend Acts in 1767 to impose direct duties on colonial paper goods, glass, lead, paints, and tea.
#7
The Boston Massacre of March 5, 1770, resulted in British soldiers killing five colonial civilians, fueling organized revolutionary propaganda led by Samuel Adams.
#8
The British Parliament retaliated against the Boston Tea Party by passing the Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts) of 1774, which closed Boston Harbor and suspended the Massachusetts charter.
#9
The First Continental Congress convened at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia in September 1774, adopting the Continental Association to enforce a total trade boycott with Britain.
#10
The first military engagements occurred at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, sparked by British troops attempting to seize colonial munitions stockpiled in Concord.
#11
Thomas Paine published the pamphlet Common Sense in January 1776, selling over 100,000 copies and articulating the moral necessity of immediate republican separation from the British monarchy.
#12
The American victory at the Battle of Saratoga in October 1777 convinced France to sign the formal Treaty of Alliance with the United States in February 1778.
#13
The Articles of Confederation served as the first governing constitution from 1781 to 1789, creating a weak unicameral confederacy without powers to levy taxes or regulate commerce.
#14
James Madison authored the Virginia Plan at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, earning the title Father of the Constitution for structuring the three co-equal branches of government.
#15
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay published 85 essays known as The Federalist Papers between 1787 and 1788 to secure New York's ratification of the federal Constitution.
Subject Specialist Commentary
Analytical perspective & practical exam advice from the Master10 academic board
The American Revolution began as a colonial revolt against British parliamentary taxation without political representation. Discontent over the Stamp Act and Townshend Acts culminated in the 1773 Boston Tea Party, prompting punitive British Intolerable Acts. On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson and grounded in John Locke's ideas of natural rights. Under George Washington's military leadership, American forces secured victory at Yorktown in 1781, winning formal recognition in the 1783 Treaty of Paris.
For competitive exams like UPSC and State PSCs, examine how the American Revolution shaped modern constitutional law. A frequent question trap confuses the Declaration of Independence in 1776 with the framing of the United States Constitution at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787. In exam papers, remember that the US Constitution introduced the separation of powers across executive, legislative, and judicial branches, alongside the 1791 Bill of Rights, which directly inspired India's Fundamental Rights under Part III.
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