Since the War for Independence, the men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States of America have devoted their lives to the principles of justice and freedom, serving in many conflicts to defend the interests of the United States at home and abroad and to preserve the foundations of democracy by resisting tyranny anywhere in the world. In the American Revolutionary War, fought from 1775 to 1783 between 13 British Colonies and their parent country Great Britain, 25,324 were killed and 8,445 were wounded. The war led to the birth of a new nation, the United States of America. The colonies formed the Continental Congress to direct the government as laid out by the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. The war achieved independence from Great Britain, and the 13 colonies adopted the U S Constitution in 1787, establishing a Republican form of government in which power resides with the people.