Elizabeth F Ellet

The Women of the American Revolution (1849) By Elizabeth F Ellet

The profiles and life stories of 160 patriotic women who were committed to the American Revolution and to the settling of the American frontier. The American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), also known as the American War of Independence and the Revolutionary War in the United States, was the armed conflict between Great Britain and thirteen of its North American colonies, which became the independent United States of America. Early fighting took place primarily on the North American continent. France, eager for revenge after its defeat in the Seven Years' War, signed an alliance with the new nation in 1778 that proved decisive in the ultimate victory. The war had its origins in the resistance of many Americans to taxes, which they claimed were unjust, imposed by the British parliament. Patriot protests escalated into boycotts, and on December 16, 1773, the destruction of a shipment of tea at the Boston Tea Party. The British government retaliated by closing the port of Boston and taking away self-government.