The American Revolution is generally considered to have started on April 19, 1775 , with the clashes between colonial militia and British troops at the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts.

Quick Scoop

The key date

  • Fighting began on April 19, 1775, when British troops marched from Boston toward Concord to seize colonial military supplies.
  • Local militia confronted them first at Lexington and then at Concord, where the “shot heard round the world” marked the outbreak of open war.

But tensions started earlier

  • Many historians point out that the “American Revolution” as a movement grew over the decade before 1775, with events like the Stamp Act crisis (1765) and the Boston Tea Party (1773).
  • Still, when people ask “when did the American Revolution start,” they almost always mean the start of shooting war, which is why April 19, 1775, is the standard answer.

In short: years of political conflict led up to it, but the war itself began when guns fired at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.

TL;DR: The American Revolution started on April 19, 1775, with the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.