美国革命(1775～1783年)

American Revolution，亦称美国独立战争（United States War of Independence）。

北美十三个英国殖民地的起义而引起的，起义赢得了政治上的独立，从而建立了美利坚合众国。1763年结束了法国和印第安人战争後，英国强加给殖民地新税（参阅Stamp Act、Sugar Act）的措施。北美殖民地居民对英国谋取本身利益的贸易法规也对英国议会中没有北美殖民地的代表感到不满。於是殖民地组成民兵和大陆军向训练有素的英国正规军挑战，以争取独立。1775年4月19日，英国派兵到康科特（麻萨诸塞州）去摧毁美洲反抗者的军需库，战事遂在勒星顿和康科特爆发。此後反抗者的军队开始围攻波士顿，当美方诺克斯将军迫使英军司令的何奥将军於1776年3月17日撤出波士顿，这场围城战始告结束。英方保证如肯让步也可得到宽恕。已於1776年7月4日宣布独立的美国人拒绝这项建议。英军把华盛顿的部队自纽约赶往新泽西作为报复。圣诞节夜里华盛顿渡过德拉瓦河，赢了特棱顿和普林斯顿战役。伯戈因将军率领的一支英国军队从加拿大南下，两次被盖茨将军率领的另一支美军击败，1777年10月17日他被迫在萨拉托加投降。是年华盛顿安排他的11,000军队安置在福吉谷过冬，在当地施托伊本男爵给了美国军队重要训练。施托伊本的帮助使华盛顿在蒙茅斯（Monmouth）战役（1778年6月28日）获胜。那次战役後，英国在北部的军队主要残留在纽约市及其外围。法国从1776年以来就已秘密向美国人提供财政和物资援助，1778年6月终向英国宣战。法国人的贡献主要是在南部。华盛顿的军队和法军队对约克镇进行围攻，1781年10月19日康华里投降，此後美国的陆上战斗平息。但战争仍在公海上继续进行。海战大部分在英国和美国的欧洲盟国间进行。1783年3月在琼斯率领下赢得在佛罗里达海峡的最後一次战役。西班牙和荷兰控制了环绕不列颠诸岛的大部分海域，因而使英国海军的主力被牵制在欧洲。随着「巴黎条约」（1783年9月3日）的签订，英国承认美国独立（西以密西西比河为界），并把佛罗里达割让给西班牙。

English version：

1775～1783年

American Revolution

War that won political independence for 13 of Britain's North American colonies, forming the United States of America. After the end of the costly French and Indian War (1763), Britain imposed new taxes on the colonies (see Stamp Act, Sugar Act) and trade restrictions, which fueled growing resentment and added to the colonists' objection to their lack of representation in the British Parliament. Determined to achieve independence, the colonies formed the Continental Army, composed chiefly of minutemen, to challenge Britain's large, organized militia. The war began when Britain sent a force to destroy rebel military stores at Concord, Mass. After fighting broke out on April 19, 1775 (see Battles of Lexington and Concord), rebel forces began a siege of Boston that ended when American forces under Henry Knox forced out the British troops under William Howe on March 17, 1776 (see Battle of Bunker Hill). Britain's offer of pardon in exchange for surrender was refused by the Americans, who declared themselves independent on July 4, 1776. British forces retaliated by driving the army of George Washington from New York to New Jersey. On Christmas night, Washington crossed the Delaware River and won the Battles of Trenton and Princeton. The British army split to cover more territory, a fatal error. In engaging the Americans in Pennsylvania, notably in the Battle of the Brandywine, they left the troops in the north vulnerable. Despite a victory in the Battle of Ticonderoga, British troops under John Burgoyne were defeated by Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold in the Battle of Saratoga (October 17, 1777). Washington quartered his 11,000 troops through a bleak winter at Valley Forge, where they received training from Frederick Steuben that gave them victory in Monmouth, N.J., on June 28, 1778. British forces in the north thenceforth chiefly concentrated near New York. France, which had been secretly furnishing aid to the Americans since 1776, finally declared war on Britain in June 1778. French troops assisted American troops in the south, culminating in the successful Siege of Yorktown, where Charles Cornwallis's forces surrendered on October 19, 1781, bringing an end to the war on land. War continued at sea, fought chiefly between Britain and the U.S.'s European allies. The navies of Spain and the Netherlands contained most of Britain's navy near Europe and away from the fighting in America. The last battle of the war was won by the American navy under John Barry in March 1783 in the Straits of Florida. With the Treaty of Paris (September 3, 1783), Britain recognized the independence of the U.S. east of the Mississippi River and ceded Florida to Spain.