The American Revolution refers to the period during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen Colonies that became the United States of America gained independence from the British Empire.
In this period, the Colonies united against the British Empire and entered a period of armed conflict known as the Revolutionary War (also, mostly in British usage, "American War of Independence"), between 1775 and 1783. This resulted in an American Declaration of Independence in 1776, and victory on the battlefield in October 1781.
France played a key role in aiding the revolution, providing the American patriots with money and munitions, organizing a coalition against Britain, and sending an army and a fleet that played a decisive role at the battle that effectively ended the war at Yorktown. The Americans, however, were heavily influenced by the ideas of the enlightenment philosophers, being against absolute monarchy, and did not see the French form of government as a model.
The American Revolution included a series of broad intellectual and social shifts that occurred in the early American society, such as the new republican ideals that took hold in the American population. In some colonies, sharp political debates broke out over the role of democracy in government. The American shift to republicanism, as well as the gradually expanding democracy, caused an upheaval of the traditional social hierarchy, and created the ethic that formed the core of American political values.
The revolutionary era began in 1763, when the military threat to the English colonies from France ended. Adopting the view that the colonies should pay a substantial portion of the costs of defending them, Britain imposed a series of taxes followed by other laws which proved unpopular and, because the colonies lacked elected representation in the governing British Parliament, many colonists considered the laws to be illegitimate. After protests in Boston, the British sent combat troops, the Americans mobilized their militia, and fighting broke out in 1775. Although Loyalists were about 30% of the population, throughout the war the Patriots generally controlled 80-90% of the territory; the British could only hold a few coastal cities. In 1776, representatives of the 13 colonies voted unanimously to adopt a Declaration of Independence, by which they established the United States of America. The Americans formed an alliance with France in 1778 that evened the military and naval strengths. Two main British armies were captured at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781, leading to peace with the Treaty of Paris in 1783. The United States was bounded by British Canada on the north, Spanish Florida on the south, and the Mississippi River on the west.
An American Revolution is an advertising campaign started on New Year's Eve 2003 by Chevrolet, originally to promote its "ten new cars and trucks in twenty months", released since January 2004, but the lineup of advertised cars was later expanded. Ironically most Chevrolet's are not American-made. Non-American-made North American Chevrolet's include the Chevrolet Aveo, Chevrolet HHR, Chevrolet Avalanche, Chevrolet Equinox, Chevrolet Impala, Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Chevrolet Silverado, Chevrolet Suburban and Chevrolet Tahoe.
The campaign was made by advertising firm Campbell-Ewald from Warren, Michigan, near General Motors' headquarters in Detroit, Michigan. Campbell-Ewald is a subdivision of the Interpublic Group of Companies from Warren, Michigan.
An American Revolution was released on the TV program Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve on the TV channel ABC. The TV commercials have also been shown on high-audience sports television programs, e.g. the American football program The NFL on CBS.
One of the first TV commercials in the campaign directed by Michael Bay featured the song Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf. The advertisement was titled "An American Revolution, Car Carrier" and featured six not-yet-introduced new cars and trucks boarding a car carrier as it traverses the United States -- notably a 103 hp Aveo descending the Twin Peaks of San Francisco and making an airborne leap remininscent of Steve McQueen's Ford Mustang in the movie Bullitt — before boarding the car carrier.
The new vehicles are:
