The Siege of Yorktown is widely regarded as the decisive military event behind the independence celebrated by America250.
American and French forces trapped the British army under General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781. The allied army was commanded by George Washington, while French naval support helped prevent British relief. After a sustained siege and bombardment, Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781.
Yorktown did not immediately produce a signed peace treaty, and fighting continued in other places. However, the surrender made continued British prosecution of the war politically and financially difficult. Peace negotiations followed, leading to the Treaty of Paris in 1783, in which Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States.
The earlier American victory at Saratoga in 1777 was also crucial because it encouraged France to enter the war openly as an ally. Yorktown is nevertheless commonly described as the war’s decisive or final major battle, making it an important neighboring fact for the 250th-anniversary story.