American Revolution (1775–83, American War of Independence) Successful revolt by the Thirteen Colonies in North America against British rule. A number of issues provoked the conflict including restrictions on trade and manufacturing imposed by the Navigation Acts, restrictions on land settlement in the West, and attempts to raise revenue in America by such means as the Stamp Act (1765) and the Tea Act (1773) that led to the Boston Tea Party. “No taxation without representation” became the colonial radicals' rallying cry. The intellectual battle for independence was led by Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. A Continental Congress was summoned in 1774, and in April 1775 the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. The following month, the second Continental Congress met at Philadelphia and assumed the role of a revolutionary government. George Washington established an army. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence made the break with Britain decisive. Initially the Americans suffered a series of military defeats, which saw Washington retreat from New York to Pennsylvania. Crossing the River Delaware, he surprised and captured the British at Trenton (December 26, 1776). On January 3, 1777, he defeated the British at Princeton, further strengthening American morale. The British attempted a three-pronged attack, focusing on New York. The strategy failed with the first decisive colonial victory at Saratoga (October 17, 1777), and the entry of France into the war against Britain. During the winter of 1777, Washington's forces reorganized in Pennsylvania. In 1778 the British forces concentrated on the South, taking Savannah in December 1778. Following the defeat at King's Mountain in 1780, the British, under General Charles Cornwallis, were forced to withdraw n to Yorktown, Virginia. In 1781, surrounded by American forces and the French navy, Cornwallis was forced to surrender. Fighting ceased and the Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized the independence of the USA.