<P> British attempts to disarm the Massachusetts militia in Concord led to open combat on April 19, 1775 . Militia forces then besieged Boston, forcing a British evacuation in March 1776, and Congress appointed George Washington to command the Continental Army . Concurrently, an American attempt to invade Quebec and raise rebellion against the British failed decisively . On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress voted for independence, issuing its declaration on July 4 . Sir William Howe launched a British counter-offensive, capturing New York City and leaving American morale at a low ebb . However, victories at Trenton and Princeton restored American confidence . In 1777, the British launched an invasion from Quebec under John Burgoyne, intending to isolate the New England Colonies . Instead of assisting this effort, Howe took his army on a separate campaign against Philadelphia, and Burgoyne was decisively defeated at Saratoga in October 1777 . </P> <P> Burgoyne's defeat had drastic consequences . France formally allied with the Americans and entered the war in 1778, and Spain joined the war the following year as an ally of France but not as an ally of the United States . In 1780, the Kingdom of Mysore attacked the British in India, and tensions between Great Britain and the Netherlands erupted into open war . In North America, the British mounted a "Southern strategy" led by Charles Cornwallis which hinged upon a Loyalist uprising, but too few came forward . Cornwallis suffered reversals at King's Mountain and Cowpens . He retreated to Yorktown, Virginia, intending an evacuation, but a decisive French naval victory deprived him of an escape . A Franco - American army led by the Comte de Rochambeau and Washington then besieged Cornwallis' army and, with no sign of relief, he surrendered in October 1781 . </P> <P> Whigs in Britain had long opposed the pro-war Tories in Parliament, and the surrender gave them the upper hand . In early 1782, Parliament voted to end all offensive operations in North America, but the war continued in Europe and India . Britain remained under siege in Gibraltar but scored a major victory over the French navy . On September 3, 1783, the belligerent parties signed the Treaty of Paris in which Great Britain agreed to recognize the sovereignty of the United States and formally end the war . French involvement had proven decisive, but France made few gains and incurred crippling debts . Spain made some minor territorial gains but failed in its primary aim of recovering Gibraltar . The Dutch were defeated on all counts and were compelled to cede territory to Great Britain . In India, the war against Mysore and its allies concluded in 1784 without any territorial changes . </P> <P> Parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765 . Colonists condemned the tax because their rights as Englishmen protected them from being taxed by a Parliament in which they had no elected representatives . Parliament argued that the colonies were "represented virtually", an idea that was criticized throughout the Empire . Parliament did repeal the act in 1766; however, it also affirmed its right to pass laws that were binding on the colonies . From 1767, Parliament began passing legislation to raise revenue for the salaries of civil officials, ensuring their loyalty while inadvertently increasing resentment among the colonists, and opposition soon became widespread . </P>

As the war for independence began britain had the advantage of