1. Battle of Yorktown
American Victory

2. Warm Up Question
Why were the French and Americans able to work so well together?
What turned the tide in the favor of the Americans?
In your opinion, why did the Americans win this war.

3. Yorktown: Oct 6-19, 1781
General Cornwallis moved his army to the North Carolina Coast
His army was battered and worn down
Ordered to stay here and protect the Carolinas
Marched his army to Virginia; settled in at Yorktown
Took command away from Benedict Arnold
Washington was planning to attack NYC
British knew, and did not send reinforcements to Cornwallis
Cornwallis ordered to bring all his men to NYC
Disobeyed orders, again, and stayed fortifying Yorktown

4. General Cornwallis

5. Cornwallis’s Route

6. Yorktown cont…
Washington sent Marquis de Lafayette to Virginia in 1781
Lafayette saw Cornwallis’s troops moving to Yorktown
Sent news back to Washington
Washington abandoned plans to attack NYC and marched South to Virginia
2,500 continental soldiers
4,000 French soldiers under the command of French General Rochambeau

7. General Rochambeau

8. Marquis de Lafayette

9. Franco-American Army

11. Yorktown cont… British realized the Americans were not going to NYC
Sent their fleet to the Chesapeake Bay
French fleet also sent there
Naval battle between French and British occurred
French drove off the British
3,000 French naval men joined Washington’s army
The Americans/French attacked with a combined force of 16,000 troops
Cornwallis was outnumbered, outgunned, and running out of food
Asked for a truce on Oct. 17th--DENIED!!!!
Oct. 19th, 1781 Cornwallis surrendered to Washington
Last major battle of the Revolutionary War

12. Cornwallis Surrenders

13. Map of the Battle

14. Naval and Army Movement

15. Aftermath Some fighting continued, but it was minor
British prime minister, Lord Frederick North, heard about the loss at Yorktown
“It is all over!”
Resigned after the surrender
Britain’s new leaders began to negotiate a peace treaty

16. French Gravesite at Yorktown

18. Treaty of Paris: September 3, 1783
Formally ended the Revolutionary War
The Americans were represented by:
Benjamin Franklin
John Adams
John Jay
What did the Americans get?
Formal recognition as an independent country by Britain
Established U.S. boundaries
Specified fishing rights
War debts paid by the citizens of each country
Restored the rights and properties of Loyalists
Opened up the Mississippi River to citizens
Evacuation of all British Soldiers

19. Treaty of Paris

20. Benjamin Franklin

21. John Adams

22. John Jay

23. Land Divided

24. Treaty Document