<P> The Boston Tea Party in 1773 was a direct action by activists in the town of Boston to protest against the new tax on tea . Parliament quickly responded the next year with the Coercive Acts, stripping Massachusetts of its historic right of self - government and putting it under army rule, which sparked outrage and resistance in all thirteen colonies . Patriot leaders from all 13 colonies convened the First Continental Congress to coordinate their resistance to the Coercive Acts . The Congress called for a boycott of British trade, published a list of rights and grievances, and petitioned the king for redress of those grievances . The appeal to the Crown had no effect, and so the Second Continental Congress was convened in 1775 to organize the defense of the colonies against the British Army . </P> <P> Ordinary folk became insurgents against the British even though they were unfamiliar with the ideological rationales being offered . They held very strongly a sense of "rights" that they felt the British were deliberately violating--rights that stressed local autonomy, fair dealing, and government by consent . They were highly sensitive to the issue of tyranny, which they saw manifested in the arrival in Boston of the British Army to punish the Bostonians . This heightened their sense of violated rights, leading to rage and demands for revenge . They had faith that God was on their side . </P> <P> The American Revolutionary War began at Concord and Lexington in April 1775 when the British tried to seize ammunition supplies and arrest the Patriot leaders . </P> <P> In terms of political values, the Americans were largely united on a concept called Republicanism, that rejected aristocracy and emphasized civic duty and a fear of corruption . For the Founding Fathers, according to one team of historians, "republicanism represented more than a particular form of government . It was a way of life, a core ideology, an uncompromising commitment to liberty, and a total rejection of aristocracy ." </P>

When did the united states begin its revolution