At the eve of the American revolution the British refused to provide the Americans with some basic rights such as representation in parliament and freedom of speech. The British also began to lay excessive taxes upon the colonists for wars that the British fought that did not benefit the colonists. The Americans became angry at these excessive taxes, and initiated the Boston Tea Party, a dramatic event at the onset of the revolution in which they dumped excessively taxed tea into Boston harbor. Another dramatic act which demonstrated the inability of the British to properly control the country also took place in boston. The Boston Massacre, in which peaceful protesters were shot and killed by British troops. This aroused much public sentiment for the revolutionary cause. The preceding course of events met steps one and two of the revolutionary cycle. After this period, the American revolution diverged from the cycle.

Instead of the moderates seizing power, a Thomas Jefferson wrote up the Declaration of Independence which was signed by many other Americans. It declared America's independence from Britain. The colonists then fought a war against the British. However, unlike other revolutionary wars, this time the Americans had the aid of another foreign country, France. Also, because they were fighting against a government across the seas, the moderates never came into full power until after the revolution was complete. Once the revolution was complete, there was large scale support for the creation of a democracy, with very few people left in the country that still supported the old British government. (Most of the people that supported the British moved up to Canada or back to Britain.) The United States then operated under the Articles of confederation, which could be considered a form of moderate rule, which was later 'overthrown' by the writing of the constitution. The Americans were also accustomed to the more democratic government of England rather than a Kingship that the other revolutionary countries. The had experience in self rule, which thus made them able to quickly establish a democracy after their revolution was completed.