Was the American Revolution truly revolutionary? Why or why not?

I would argue that the American Revolution was most certainly revolutionary. A group of colonial subjects in a far-flung corner of the British Empire came together to fight—and defeat—what was at that time the world's largest military power. This was virtually unprecedented in the annals of history. Additionally, once the American colonists defeated the might of Great Britain, they set about establishing a new nation almost from scratch. Despite certain family resemblances, the American Revolution was radically different from the French Revolution. The American colonists were not simply getting rid of an old regime; they were building a nation. This was not just any nation; this was a nation founded on the principles of liberty and democracy. Again, there was almost no historical precedent for this. With the birth of the United States, British subjects were turned into American citizens, active participants in a newly-established Republic. It is difficult to see how such radical change can be seen as anything but revolutionary.

Was the American Revolution a genuine revolution?

In its broadest sense, a revolution simply means a political transformation. In that sense, yes, the American revolution was a genuine revolution. It marked a significant change in the political construction and affiliation of the American colonies from one in which they were in a constitutional relationship with Britain to one in which they were not.

Colloquially, however, revolution has come to mean a complete overthrow of the extant system of governance in a state. In that sense, the American revolution might be more correctly defined as a secessionist revolt rather than a "true" revolution. The success criteria ultimately adopted by the revolutionary Committee of Five and the Continental Congress was not one which envisaged the overthrow of the Hanover dynasty or of Lord North or the abolition of the British parliament. Rather, it had a more discrete goal in achieving the political separation of a portion of the British Empire from the rest of the state. For this reason, in the remnant United Kingdom, what is referred to as the "American revolution" in the United States is more commonly called the "American War of Independence."