At the time of the American Revolution in 1775, the total population of the 13 Colonies was around 2.5 million people.

Of those, 2.5 million.

Historians estimate about 20% of them were British loyalists.

45% supported the Patriots, and the rest chose to remain neutral and can't blame them!

Across the Atlantic, England was home to around 8 million people.

Over three times the population of the colonies.

While the difference in population between the two powers was clear, the wealth gap was even more staggering.

The Continental Congress's initial military budget was $2 million in continental currency, which would be worth roughly $60 million in today's money.

In contrast, Britain's war time budget hovered around 12 million pounds per year, equivalent to as much as $2.5 billion today.

That's more than 35 times the financial firepower of Patriot forces.

The results of this monetary imbalance can be seen in the size and strength of the country's military forces.

At the time, the British Crown commanded approximately 56,000 regular British troops, supported by 30,000 German soldiers and around 19,000 loyalist militia.

Its Royal Navy, which employed about 100,000 sailors globally, had hundreds of warships across the world with at least 270 of them in American waters.

During the height of the war.

In contrast, the Continental Army typically had around 20,000 men, some of whom were temporary militia men who served 6 to 12 months.

The Continental Navy managed to enlist 3 to 5000 sailors and a fleet of approximately 60 ships, many of which were smaller vessels that stuck close to the coastline with the odds clearly stacked against them.

The Patriots had to rely on something other than brute force geurrilla tactics, Intelligence gathering, propaganda, and foreign alliances specifically with France became essential to tip the scales in their favor.

Despite being woefully outnumbered, underfunded and undertrained, the American revolutionaries managed to overcome the odds and claim victory.

On September 3rd, 1783, American representatives Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay signed the Treaty of Paris with Britain's David Hartley, officially ending the Revolutionary War.

Funding for this video was made in part by a community engagement grant from the American Revolution, a film by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt.

You can stream the full film starting November 16th on the PBS app.

We'd like to thank the following funders.

Simple civics.

Brought to you in part by the Indiana State Teachers Association.