This may seem simple on the surface but before answering think about it a second. I’ve asked history professors in college this question and they couldn’t come-up with a satisfactory answer.
What is the difference between a Civil War and a Revolution? Why would you choose one name over another?
In the American Revolution the US was trying to withdraw from Great Britain and setup it’s own government. How is this different from the Civil War in the US where the South was trying to withdraw from the US and setup their own government?
So far the best answer anyone has come-up with is who wins. If you’re the ‘winner’ then it’s defined as a Revolution. If the original government prevails then they label it a Civil War. Seems weak but if anyone has a better answer I’d appreciate it.
A revolution is when a party is interested in taking over the existing power center of a nation. A military coup is a revolution. When the Ayatollah took power in Iran, that was a revolution.
A civil war is when a party tries to secede from an existing power, without overthrowing that power.
In that respect, the Revolutionary War was, in fact, a civil war, since the U.S. had no intention of occupying and taking over London, just as during the Civil War, the South had no intention of occupying and conquering the North.
Still doesn’t work. The American Revolution was not fought to overthrow the King of England…just to break away from England the same as the South tried to break away from the North in the American Civil War.
Re: the American Revolution - There, it was an attempt to overthrow the monarchical form of government with a republican form of government.
'Course, the American “Revolution” was a bit of repackaging. At the start of the war, Americans had not decided which form of government with which they wanted to replace English rule. IIRC, the war was generally not referred to as “revolution” by the participants.
Sorry Zev…my post was on its way before I saw your answer.
I can buy your thinking that the American Revolution is more approprately titled the American Civil War. Next question is where the heck did American Revolution creep in from? Was it put out there to distinguish the Civil War (between North and South) from the ‘American Revolution’ or did someone once feel that the word Revolution simply had a nice ring to it so it stuck? I mean, if the definitions are so clear it’s a bit surprising historians would make such an obvious mistake.
How does Great Britain refer to it (the American Revolution or the British Civil War)?
A British-written US History book I own refers to the American Revolution as “The Was for American Independence.”
However, the word revolution is used sometimes.
I think the biggest problem here is that there aren’t any firm definitions that historians use.