Was it a rebellion, revolution, or a war ?

Question

Was The American Revolution just that, or was it TheAmerican Rebellion, OR... A war for indepenence, and why?

Answer 1

It was a War of Independence. Today, it is called a “revolution” in order that, any thug movement that takes up arms to overthrow the established order can be declared equivalent to the Founding Fathers in America. But the aim of the war was not to drastically create a new order (with themselves as “Dictators for Life”), but to maintain the old order. The war was an effort to conserve the status quo. The colonies had agreements that dated back over a hundred years and established that they would self govern, that they would raise their own taxes, and that they would swear allegiance to either God or to the King of England. The practical effect of this is that England could enjoy certain monopolistic trade practices in regards to the colonies. Neither the King nor Parliament ever had the right to tax the colonies. “No Taxation without Representation” did not mean that the colonies wanted representation in Parliament. They wanted their agreement to remain unchanged. The American leaders made every effort at compromise, but when the opportunity slipped away, they believed they had no other option. When the war was concluded and the new order established, it was noted that for the average joe, there was no discerning the new from the old order. In today’s Revolutions, when the “Dictator for Life” takes power, one will definitely notice the difference. The final evidence of a War of Independence is in the durability of the new order:

“Although they are ancient states, many of the constitutions of European countries are very young indeed, far younger than those of Britain's constitutional monarchy (1688-9), America's democracy (1776), Canada's responsible government (1848) or even Australia's Federation (1900). By contrast, the French Constitution establishing its Fifth Republic was only promulgated in 1958, Germany's Basic Law was passed in 1949... Italy's was adopted in 1949... and Portugal's became law in 1976...”
(Andrew Roberts)


“Or, as I like to say, the US Constitution is not only older than the French, German, Italian and Spanish constitutions, it's older than all of them put together. The entire political class of Portugal, Spain and Greece spent their childhoods living under dictatorships. So did Jacques Chirac and Angela Merkel. We forget how rare in this world is sustained peaceful constitutional evolution…”
(Mark Steyn)

Answer 2

All of the above. A rebellion or revolution is so similar that there is no need to further the definition. However once America succeeded from the Crown the revolt turned into a war. Hence the American Revolutionary War.

Answer 3

It is like a fart, when it lasts it is a rebellion, when it does not it is a revolution, and when it becomes falsely accused of heroism it was a war already.

Answer 4

It was all of those.

Answer 5

it was all three.