Battle of Lexington: 8 Minutemen killed.

Battle of Concord: A much larger group of Minutemen awaited the British redcoats, and forced them to retreat. The mere idea that a group of rural farmers repelled the army of the most powerful military power in the world at the time is why the Battle of Concord is referred to as "the shot heard 'round the world."

Loyalists: Colonists who remained loyal to the Crown, they were mostly government officials, Anglicans who followed the Church of England, merchants that depended on trade with Britain, and religious and ethnic minorities who feared the rebels. Many slaves were promised freedom, so they also tended to side with the British rather than with the Colonists.

Patriots: White, Protestant, Land-Owners, Gentry, Urban artisans.

Second Continental Congress: Established a Continental Army, allowed the printing of money, and created government offices. The leader of the Continental Army would be General George Washington.

George Washington: Appointed to lead the army since he was wildly popular, and a Southerner, thus cementing the ties between the colonies in the North and South.

Common Sense: Written by the English Thomas Paine called for Colonial Independence, and was the first who criticized the King himself, George III for the rebellion. The novel was immensely popular. In an era where the population of the Colonies were 2 million people, and most of them could not read, Common Sense sold more than 100,000 copies in three months.

In June, Congress commissioned Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration included the grievances of the colonists to the Crown, and also set out to establish a set of individual liberty and the responsibility of government modeled on the Enlightenment ideas of John Locke. The document was signed on July 4, 1776.

Facts about the War: Continental Army had trouble recruiting soldiers, as opposed to the militias, since militias set out to defend only what affected them the most. Congress set out to recruit Blacks, and almost 5,000 fought with the Continental Army, in return they were granted freedom.

Franco-American Alliance: After the Battle of Saratoga, the French were convinced that the Americans had a good chance of winning the war. The alliance, negotiated by Benjamin Franklin in 1778, brought the Kingdom of France into the war, and they fought on the side of the Americans.

Treaty of Paris of 1782: Officially ended the war, it granted the United States independence, and gave the colonies generous territorial rights.

A NEW NATION, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, HAS BEEN BORN.