Protests and boycotts of British goods in the Thirteen Colonies eventually led to civil disturbances (such as the “Boston Tea Party”) and then escalated into armed rebellion in 1775, touching off the American Revolutionary War (also known as the “American War of Independence”). The American Declaration of Independence followed in 1776. The conflict was really the first American civil war, pitting the “Patriots” (the rebels) and their pro-independence forces against the forces of the British Crown and many regiments of “Loyalists”, colonists who wished to remain loyal to the British Crown within an undivided British Empire. (Hence the term “United Empire Loyalists”.)
 Withstanding the Attack of Arnold’s Men at the Second Barrier. National Archives of Canada / C-005415 Artist: Sydney Adamson |
When American armies under General Richard Montgomery and Col. Benedict
Arnold attacked Canada in the fall of 1775, capturing Montreal, some Loyalist
troops aided the British forces under Sir Guy Carleton in the successful
defence of Quebec City on December 31, 1775 and in the subsequent liberation
of Montreal in June 1776.
Montreal later became a base of operation for Loyalist troops during the conflict, including the famous King’s Royal Regiment of New York, commanded by Sir John Johnson.
 The United States of North America with the British Territories and those of Spain according to the treaty of 1784. Engraved by William Faden (1750-1836). Map: hand-coloured, engraved 52.5 x 63.5 cm. National Archives of Canada: Cartographic and Architectural Archives Division. ( NMC 24667) |
The American Revolution eventually became an international war, with
France, Spain and the Netherlands supporting the Patriots against Britain
(1778 and 1779), leading to the eventual victory of the revolutionaries
at the Battle of Yorktown, Virginia (1781). The Treaty of Paris of 1783
recognized the independence of the “United States of America”,
a new Republic consisting of the former Thirteen Colonies, which became
the first thirteen states of the U.S.A.