About the same pace as our first war against tyranny. From the Stamp Act of 1765 to Yorktown was 16 years. The Treaty of Paris came 2 years later. But you could reasonably trace the first rumblings of our Republic back to 1754.

It was then that you see Ben Franklins snake cut up into eight pieces with the words "Join or Die" underneath. It is also the year the Albany Conference approved of Franklins plan to form a union of colonies which ultimately failed to gather support among the other colonies.