The North American war of Independence was fought between 1801 and 1805. The war began when a Pennsylvania farmer's pigs got in the way of a British cavalry group. The pigs would not move, and a commanding officer shot a pig. The farmer got mad, and he fired on a soldier, thus starting the war. The underground resistance came out of secrecy and helped established the Republican Army, and prepared for the war. The war was fought at the same time as the Eight Years War.