The United States of America is a large nation on the continent of North America and a relatively influential power in the Western Hemisphere. Founded as thirteen colonies by the British throughout the 17th and early 18th centuries, the United States was declared by disgruntled colonists on July 4, 1776 with a Declaration of Independence and won that independence from Britain during the American Revolutionary War, becoming officially recognized after its victory in that conflict in 1783. For the next eight decades the nation grew rapidly, expanding westward all the way to the Pacific Ocean and establishing itself as a regional and minor world power.