The Surrender at Yorktown
Fortified by the Franco-American Alliance, the Americans
maintained an impasse with the British until 1781,
when the Americans laid siege to a large encampment of British forces
under Lord Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown,
Virginia. Scattered battles persisted until 1783, but
the British, weary of the stalemate, decided to negotiate peace.
The Peace of Paris
The war came to an official close in September 1783,
when Britain, the United States, France, and Spain negotiated the Peace
of Paris. The treaty granted vast tracts of western lands
to the Americans and recognized the United States as a new and independent
country. The last British forces departed New York in November 1783,
leaving the American government in full control of the new nation.
