Explain the major ideas and events that led to the American Revolution

The American colonists' breakup with the British Empire in 1776 wasn't a sudden, impetuous act. Instead, the banding together of the 13 colonies to fight and win a war of independence against the Crown was the culmination of a series of events, which had begun more than a decade earlier. Escalations began shortly after the end of the French and Indian War-known elsewhere as the Seven Years War in 1763. Here are a few of the pivotal moments that led to the American Revolution.