What event is considered the beginning of the American Revolution?

The beginning of the American Revolution is marked by the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775. These battles are significant because they represented the first military engagements between the American colonists and British troops, signaling the start of armed conflict in the colonies. The skirmishes highlighted the growing tensions and the readiness of colonists to take up arms against British authority, exemplifying their desire for independence.

In contrast, the signing of the Declaration of Independence occurred later, in 1776, as a formal statement declaring the colonies' separation from Britain. The Boston Tea Party, which took place in 1773, was an important act of civil disobedience against British taxation but did not involve direct military conflict. The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783, formally ended the American Revolutionary War and established peace between Britain and the newly independent United States, but it happened well after the war had begun. Thus, the Battles of Lexington and Concord are considered the pivotal events that initiated the Revolutionary War.