The American Revolution was both a war for independence and a revolution. John Adams statement which says that the war was no part of the Revolution is only half-true. It was a war for Independence from the tyranny of the British parliament. It was also a revolution in the fact that the colonist would, in the end, set up a new form of government. A government which was for, by, and of the people. It also changed society in many ways. Though revolutionary thought was on the minds of the people before the Revolutionary War had begun, I believe that the war which followed was, in fact, a revolution.
             Many revolutions begin in an outbreak of violence, which sometimes is a response to heightened repression or other extraordinary demands from government against their people. The American Revolution is an example of this. The violence took the form of the Revolutionary War and Congress became the leadership. The American Revolution was the first anti-colonial, democratic revolution in history. American colonists insisted on representation and when the British monarchy denied it, they fought them. Americans won and set up their own government which was a republic. Therefore, what was undertaken at first to secure for British Americans guarantees of local autonomy and individual rights, the same as those enjoyed by Englishmen in the home islands, quickly became, in 1775-76, a struggle for independence.
             The Declaration of Independence states "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers form the consent of the governed..." It goes on to say that when a government doesn't follow these basic things, it should be the people's right to alter or abolish the current government, and immedi...