Ch. 6, Section 4: The War is Won pg. 183

Main Idea: The American colonies overcame many disadvantages to win independence.

Key Terms: Ratify Ambush

Victory at Yorktown Washington planned a complex and secretive

takeover at Yorktown, Virginia, in hopes of surprising Cornwallis.

Washington was originally going to attack New York City because he was expecting a French fleet to arrive there to help.

The French fleet never reached New York City because the British fleet trapped them in Newport.

Washington planned an attack on Yorktown instead.

Yorktown Washington knew the

British expected him at New York City,

change would surprise and confuse British

He learned that a second French fleet was to arrive near Chesapeake Bay, would meet at Yorktown.

Victory at Yorktown The Yorktown plan was kept secret. Three groups were

to meet there and surprise the British.

Most of the soldiers did not even know where they were marching or why.

1.In August 1781, Admiral Francois de Grasse’s fleet was to land along the Virginia coast near Yorktown.

2. In July the first French fleet that was trapped in Newport would meet Washington’s troops and march south to Yorktown. Their commander was General Rochambeau.

3. A third group from the west under Anthony Wayne was to march toward Yorktown, Virginia.

Victory at Yorktown The plan worked. By the end of September,

14,000 American and French troops trapped Cornwallis’s 7,500 troops.

The British troops could not escape by sea because de Grasse’s troops blocked them.

The rest of the British Army was in New York under General Clinton waiting for Washington’s attack, unable to help Cornwallis in the South.

Yorktown is won!

On October 11th, American and French troops bombarded the British. On October 19th, Cornwallis surrendered. The Patriots had won the Battle of Yorktown.

Independence Fighting continued after the Battle of

Yorktown, but the British realized the war was too costly to continue.

Delegates from both sides met in Paris. After a preliminary treaty was ratified in April 1783, the final Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3rd, 1783. It said that

Treaty of Paris 1. Britain recognized the United States as an

independent nation

2. The United States territory extended from the Atlantic Ocean west to the Mississippi River and from Canada in the north to Spanish Florida in the south

3. The British promised to withdraw all troops and agreed to give Americans the right to fish off the coast of Canada.

Treaty of Paris4. The United States agreed that British merchants could collect on debts owed by Americans5. Property taken from Loyalists would be returned to them

George Washington Retires George Washington gave up his

command and on December 4 gave his farewell speech.

Two weeks later, he formally resigned and returned home to Mount Vernon.

Independence American won the war against the world’s

strongest power.

1. Americans fought on their own land.

2. Americans controlled the countryside, where they knew the local terrain, even though Britain captured their cities.

3. Help from other nations contributed to the victory.

4. Mostly, the people fought the battles with determination and belief in their ideals.