How to Briefly Describe the Conclusion of the Revolutionary War
The conclusion of the American Revolutionary War can be described briefly by focusing on both the military and diplomatic aspects of the end of the war, and the immediate impact the war had on the American colonies. The Revolutionary War was fought by the 13 colonies of the New World against the British Empire. It was fought between a strong British army and colonial rebels who benefited from their passion and territorial knowledge. The American colonies were aided with troops and supplies by their powerful ally, France. The battles of the Revolutionary War lasted from 1775 to 1783, finally concluding with the Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783.
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Instructions
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Recount the Battle of Yorktown, the final battle of the Revolutionary War. In this decisive battle, General Washington defeated Lord Cornwall's British forces, causing the British to surrender on October 19th, 1781. Washington led 8,800 American troops, helped by 7,800 French troops led by Lieutenant General de Rochambeau, against the 6,000 British troops. The casualties in this battle included 500 British, 80 Americans and 200 French. The peace treaty that followed the Battle of Yorktown acknowledged the independence of the American states.
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Outline the Treaty of Paris of 1783. The three American negotiators, John Jay, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, articulated American national interests to their British counterparts, gaining official British recognition of U.S. independence and territorial boundaries that would be conducive to westward expansion.
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Detail the economic legacy of the war, specifically the effect it had on America's currency, the Continental dollar. The national government owed $12 million in foreign debt and $44 million in domestic debt. State governments owed an additional $25 million in war debts. Historian Robert Leckie says the chief cause of inflation was paper currency. The states refused Congress' plea to stop printing new monies, and the paper printed became increasingly devalued, while the denominations got larger and larger. According to Leckie, the Continental dollar lost 80 percent of its value from 1776 to 1779.
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Discuss the abolition of slavery in New England. The National Park Service estimates that around 5,000 black soldiers fought on the rebel side during the American Revolution. Also, most continental regiments were racially integrated. The result of blacks fighting in the war was that New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey effectively abolished slavery in New England by creating policies of gradual emancipation between 1780 and 1804. Individual manumissions also increased dramatically after the war, according to the National Park Service.
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References
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