The Revolutionary War began on April 19, 1775, at the Battle of Lexington and Concord.The Second Continental Congress met in May 1775 to discuss stronger action for independence, tensions in the American colonies were very high. Colonists who did not support British subjects declared themselves "Patriots", those who remained faithful to England called themselves "Loyalists."  Things were going badly, and the armed forces were disorganized. The Continental Congress created the Continental Army and named George Washington as commander-in-chief. The Congress, a young and unsteady organization, had little money.

On June 11, 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed a committee of five men to write a Declaration of Independence from British Rule.Thomas Jefferson's work was approved later he maked little changes in the Decaration of Independence, Church bells rang out on July 4, 1776, the day that the Declaration of Independence was adopted and the United States of America was officially independent.