The Battle of Yorktown ended with a British surrender that effectively ended major fighting in the American Revolutionary War, remembered during America250.
The Yorktown campaign took place in Virginia in 1781. American forces commanded by George Washington joined French troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau, while a French fleet helped prevent British reinforcements and evacuation by sea.
The allied army surrounded the British position commanded by General Charles Cornwallis. After weeks of bombardment and siege operations, Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781. The surrender did not instantly create a peace treaty, but it made continued British war efforts politically difficult.
Fighting and negotiations continued in other places for nearly two years. The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783, formally ended the war and recognized American independence. Yorktown is therefore best described as the decisive final campaign or last major battle, rather than the legal end of the conflict.