Americans, undoubtedly, mostly believe our declaration and war of independence was the first rebellion in the western world of a colony against its colonial ruler. But 208 years earlier in 1568, the seven provinces of present day Holland launched a revolution seeking independence from Spain.

David Lenefsky, attorney and art historian.

While the American revolution took eight years to achieve victory, beginning in 1775 with military encounters at Lexington and Concord, it took some 80 years of war for the Dutch to finally achieve in 1648 their formal independence from Spain (there was a Twelve Years’ Truce between 1609-1621).