American revolution timeline

The American Revolution (1775–1783) ended British colonial rule and created an independent United States, but the new nation soon faced the challenge of designing a stable government. This led to the U.S. Constitution of 1787, which replaced the weak Articles of Confederation with a stronger federal system balancing powers between states and the central authority. However, deep divisions—especially over slavery—continued to grow, eventually erupting in the Civil War (1861–1865) between the Union and the Confederacy. The Union victory preserved the nation and abolished slavery, but the struggle to define freedom and citizenship continued into the Reconstruction era (1865–1877), which attempted to rebuild the South, integrate formerly enslaved people as citizens with rights, and redefine federal–state relations. This period laid the foundations for modern American democracy, even though many of its reforms were later undermined.