George Washington played a part in the American Revolution.
American Revolution . Patriots in each of the thirteen colonies formed Provincial Congresses that assumed power from the old colonial governments and suppressed Loyalism , and from there built a Continental Army under the leadership of General George Washington . George Washington . He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War , and later presided over the 1787 convention that drafted the United States Constitution . In 1775 , the Second Continental Congress commissioned him as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution . In that command , Washington forced the British out of Boston in 1776 but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost New York City . After crossing the Delaware River in the middle of winter , he defeated the British in two battles ( Trenton and Princeton ) , retook New Jersey , and restored momentum to the Patriot cause .