What are facts about the American Revolution?

The American Revolution was a reaction of the English colonies against English control of the government of the colonies, from which they sought a continued source of revenue.

The first battles were at Lexington and Concord, near Boston, on April 19, 1775. Riders including Paul Revere and William Dawes had alerted the colonial forces to an attack by the British.

The most dramatic point of the war was on Christmas Day, 1776, when George Washington marched his weary and freezing soldiers from Valley Forge, crossed the icy Delaware River, and defeated the Hessians (German soldiers) at the Battle of Trenton (December 26, 1776).

The British surrender at Yorktown was effectively the end of the war, on October 19, 1781. The British forces under Lord Cornwallis were trapped by a French fleet that prevented them from escaping the siege of the Continental Army. But the actual peace treaty (Treaty of Paris) was not signed until 1783.