The American War of Independence, also known as the American Revolution, was a historic event of great importance. The colonists finally got rid of the British rule and won their national independence. At the same time, US capitalism developed in a freer manner. This war was the first large-scale revolutionary movement in which a colonial people fought against national oppression for political and economic emancipation. It shook the foundation of feudalism all over Europe so as to bring about the French Revolution in 1789 and some fifty years later, the revolution in the Spanish colonies in America.