The American Revolution was a war of independence. It was a war fought for the equal rights and freedom of a potential nation. This showed the courage and heart of the American colonists in pitting them against a much more powerful opponent. The British had the best army in the world and the colonists were often just poor farmers armed with their hunting muskets. It was truly a case of David versus Goliath. The reasons, course, and results of the American Revolution provided the ideal scenario for achieving independence. The ideas behind the revolution appeared well before 1776. They came from the depths of the Enlightenment. Although these ideas did not have much support, it is important to note that they existed. Stress had been mounting in the colonies since the end of the Seven Years' War. For the first time there was a standing British army in the colonies. The British had nearly doubled their national debt by defending their colonies, and they felt it was time for the colonies to start contributing financially. The colonists had to take care of the British soldiers in the colonies. They would feed, clothe and house these soldiers. The soldiers were there with the ultimate goal of tightening England's grip on its colony. Needless to say, this did not sit well with the colonists. They had enjoyed freedom under a negligent Britain in the early 1700s. Now they risk losing everything they had gained. The American Revolution was directly sparked by incessant arguments over raising taxes. The first tax to come took the form of the navigation laws. The Navigation Acts "were laws passed by the British Parliament to regulate colonial trade...... middle of paper ...... through naval and cunning diplomacy, the colonists surprised the world and gained their independence. Works Cited - Buckler, John, Bennett D. Hill and John P. McKay. A history of Western society. Boston, PA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1975.- Lecky, William EH The American Revolution 1763-1783 New York, NY: D. Appleton and Company,. 1924.- Morgan, Edmund S. The birth of the Republic, 1763-1789. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1956.- Morris, Richard B. The American Revolution “A Brief History” Huntington, NY: RobertE. Krieger Publishing Company, 1955.- Stokesbury, James L. A Brief History of the American Revolution New York, NY: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1991.- Ward, Harry M. The American Revolution: The Making of a nation 1763-1788. New York, New York: St. Martin's Press, Inc..., 1995.