1776. The War started a year earlier but it wasn’t a war for independence, just more rights under the crown.
But we declared and felt ourselves independent as of 1776. Now, whether we would hold on to that independence or not wasn’t decided until 1783 (or 1815 if you want to say that’s when Britain finally realized it couldn’t hold us aAND deal with all the problems in Europe AND expand it mercantile holdings in Asia).
1776. The War started a year earlier but it wasn’t a war for independence, just more rights under the crown.
But we declared and felt ourselves independent as of 1776. Now, whether we would hold on to that independence or not wasn’t decided until 1783 (or 1815 if you want to say that’s when Britain finally realized it couldn’t hold us aAND deal with all the problems in Europe AND expand it mercantile holdings in Asia).