Yorktown, originally established in 1691 by Virginia’s colonial government to regulate trade and taxation on imported and exported goods, had grown into a major port and economic center by the early 1700s. With 250-300 buildings and a population well over 2,000 people, Yorktown was a well developed trading town equipped with wharves, docks , businesses, taverns and other shops/industries. Who knew not 90 years later, this thriving waterfront would be the location of a siege that would end the American Revolution. In 1781, the seventh and final year of the American Revolution, British general Lord Charles Cornwallis thought by bringing his army to Yorktown and establishing a naval base on the island, he would halt the Patriots further advancements …show more content…
On the 19 of October, the majority of Cornwallis’ army marched right out of Yorktown between the lines of the American and French troops. This line stretched on for miles, leading to a field where the British were to lay down their arms and return back to Yorktown where they were later led to prison camps. Although the British still had 26 thousand troops stationed in North America, the British moral was low due to the loss of Yorktown. Replacing the lost army was questionable, seeing that England was also engaged in struggles in India, Gibraltar, the West Indies and Ireland. A year later in the March of 1782, Parliament passed a resolution stating that the war against the US would cease. The war had been costly on all sides. (Parker G, Cowley …show more content…
The Battle of Yorktown was what tipped the scale in America’s favor. By draining funding, soldiers, supplies and gaining control of more territory, the Battle of Yorktown destroyed the moral of the British army and only emphasized England’s growing problems with its control in other parts of the world. In 1782, commissioners of the US and Great Britain signed articles of peace and in September of 1783, the final treaty was signed and thus, ending the American Revolution and acknowledging America’s independence as it own country.