The American revolutionary war started in the year 1775. The British mainly controlled the areas in New York and Philadelphia. The rest of the land was under control of the colonists. The House of Commons in Great Britain voted to end the war in 1782 after 4 years of starting the war. The American’s of 1776 had the highest standard of living and the lowest taxes in the western world. Farmers, lawyers and business owners in the colonies were thriving, with some plantation owners and merchants making the equivalent of $500,000 a year. The British wanted a part of the cash flow and tried to tax the colonists. The colonists were angry. Virginia’s Patrick Henry summed up their stance with his cry: “Give me liberty, or give me death!” Benjamin Franklin wrote the first Declaration of Independence. John Adam’s defended the British soldiers after the Boston Massacre. History’s first submarine attack took place in New York Harbor in 1776. Benedict Arnold was the best general in the Continental Army. If we didn’t have Benedict Arnold we probably would have lost the Revolutionary war. By 1779, as many as one in seven Americans in Washington’s army were black. In 1779, there were more Americans fighting with the British, then with Washington. In 1778, the United States of America and France signed a part of trade and commerce and this allowed them to depend on France as an ally. Also, France declared a war on Great Britain under the leadership of Louis XVI. The