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STEVE HEIMLER: During the American Revolution, the British army under General Cornwallis surrendered to American forces and their French allies at Yorktown in 1781. This was a devastating defeat for the British. And it soon became clear to the colonists and the Europeans alike that the Americans were going to win the war. However, the fighting would continue for another two years.

SPEAKER: After the Battle of Yorktown, a lot of people in the United States thought the war was over. It wasn't.

STEVE HEIMLER: In fact, the war would escalate to a global scale. The French, Spanish, and Dutch helped the Americans dominate the fighting by supplying naval support and weapons.

SPEAKER: So the British were looking at quite an array of enemies. And they started to worry that they might lose a lot more than just the 13 colonies.

STEVE HEIMLER: The British continued to suffer a series of humiliating defeats, not only in the colonies, but also in the Mediterranean, the West Indies, Africa, and Asia. Finally, protests from English citizens, merchants, and politicians forced parliamentary officials to the table.

SPEAKER: There was a huge struggle going on in England to persuade George III to agree to grant independence to the Americans. A lot of people started thinking, maybe we just better cut our losses, give the Americans their independence. So they began to edge towards negotiating a treaty of peace. Meanwhile, Congress, the Continental Congress, had sent envoys to Europe.

STEVE HEIMLER: In September of 1783, three American diplomats, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay, met with British representatives in France to conclude the war officially. The Treaty of Paris granted the United States its independence. The British ceded all the lands south of Canada, east of the Mississippi, and north of Spanish-owned Florida to the Americans.

SPEAKER: And the war was then wound down. And the British evacuated Charleston, where they had an army. And they evacuated in New York. And the Americans truly became from independent.

STEVE HEIMLER: From 1775 to 1783, Americans had fought for their independence from the British. When the war began, few Europeans believed the Americans would win. With the Treaty of Paris, the Americans had won their independence. And after eight long years of violence and deprivation, the American Revolution was finally over.