The American Revolution was a rebellion of the thirteen original colonies against Great Britain.  It is also known as the American War of Independence and the Revolutionary War.  During the war the thirteen colonies declared their independence from their mother country (Great Britain) and formed an alliance with France.  The outcome of the war was an American victory which allowed the formation of the United States of America.
    The war began in Boston, Massachusetts in 1775 and officially ended with a peace treaty signed in Paris in 1783.  The background causes of the war began around 1763 when England levied taxes on the colonies in order to help pay for the French and Indian War, giving the colonists no opinion in the decision because they were not represented in Parliament. Britain also increased its control over the colonies in mercantilism, believing the colonies existed only to improve the mother country.  Britain continued to pass several acts and laws which taxed and restricted the colonies even more.  The tension was only growing stronger, until the colonists decided to rebel.  They could take it no longer and the war began.
     The result of the war was an American victory.  The key victory at Yorktown caused the British to lose their desire to carry on with the war and negotiations for peace began.  Benjamin Franklin, John Jay and John Adams were sent to France to negotiate the terms of peace which were signed in the Treaty of Paris.  In this treaty the British agreed to recognize the United States as an independent nation and also established boundaries for the United States.
   Understanding the importance of the American Revolution allows a reader to see what a big deal this war was to the people back then and even to Americans today.  It was this famous war which allowed for the United States to be a free nation.  And when you understand how important the American Revolution was and still is today, it is easy to see why one could write so compassionately about the war or about the idea of being a free nation in general.  This compassion shown towards the American Revolution can be compared to Benjamin Franklin's life.  Franklin is constantly struggling to improve himself and society as well.  He took pride in his writings and worked extremely hard on every single one of them.  Just as the Americans were eager to be a free nation, Franklin was eager to improve society by establishing the first public library in Philadelphia, a fire company, a philosophical society, a defense system and a more equitable tax system.  Franklin's success as well as the American's victory in the Revolutionary War just goes to show that if you are really passionate about something and give it your all, anything can be done.
 

Cornelison, Pam and Ted Yanak. The Great American History Fact-Finder .  Boston:  Houghton
     Mifflin Company, 1993.

"The American Revolution." Encyclopedia Americana.  1999ed.