american revolution
the american revolution was not a revolution in the sense of a radical or total change. it was not a sudden and violent overturning of the political and social framework, such as later occurred in france and russia, when both were already independent nations. significant changes were ushered in, but they were not breathtaking. what happened was accelerated evolution rather than outright revolution. during the conflict itself people went on working and praying, marrying and playing. most of them were not seriously disturbed by the actual fighting, and many of the more isolated communities scarcely knew that a war was on.
america's war of independence heralded the birth of three modern nations. one was canada, which received its first large influx of english-speaking population from the thousands of loyalists who fled there from the united states. another was australia, which became a penal colony now that america was no longer available for prisoners and debtors. the third newcomer -- the united states -- based itself squarely on republican principles.
yet even the political overturn was not so revolutionary as one mightsuppose. in some states, notably connecticut and rhode island, the war largely ratified a colonial self-rule already existing. british officials,everywhere ousted, were replaced by a home-grown governin class, which promptly sought a local substitute for king and parliament.
美國革命
美國革命其實並不算是一場革命，因為它並未導致完全的和徹底的變化。 這次革命並不是對政治和社會框架的一次突然和猛烈的顛覆，象後來在已經是獨立國家的法國 和俄國所爆發的革命那樣。革命帶來了重大的變化，但並非翻天覆地，所發生的只是進化 的加速，而不是一場徹底的革命;在衝突期間，人們仍然上班、做禮拜、結婚、玩耍.多數人並沒有受到實際戰鬥的嚴重影響. 許多較閉塞的社區對這場戰爭幾乎一無所知。
美國 獨立戰爭宣布了三個現代國家的誕生，其中一個是加拿大。加拿大的第一大批講英語的流 入人口來自於成千上萬英王的效忠者， 這些人從美國逃到了加拿大。 另一個國家是澳大利亞，因為美國不再是容納罪犯和欠債者的國度了，澳大利亞就變成了一個懲治罪犯的殖民地(註：獨立戰爭前，英國政府將罪犯流放到美國)。第三個國家就是美國，它完全建立在共和原則基礎上。
即使政治上的顛覆也不如人們可能想像的那樣具有革命性。在一些州，特 別是康乃狄克和羅德島，戰爭基本上只是承認了已經存在的殖民地的自治。 四處被驅逐的 英國官員都被本土的統治階級所替代，這個統治階級迅速地以地方權力機關來替代國王和議會。