authority.Washington settoworktotr ainhis men
andturn themintodisciplinedsoldie rs.Ourthis took
time.andmean w hiktheAmericanssuffereddcfcar
afterdefeat.InSeptembe r1776,o nlytw o11I0mhs
aft erth eDedarationof independence.th e British
capturedNewYo rkCity. Wdshingtonwrorc toIus
b ro th er thathefe aredthatth e Americans werevery
closeto lo singthr-w ar.
Successbeganto co metorhc Americansin October
177 7.Theyrrappeda Bri tisharmyo f almos t("OOO
m enatSara tog ain northernNewYork.The British
commanderwascurotffromh is supplies andhis
menwerefacingstarvation.liewasfo rcedto
su rrender.TheAmericansmarchedtheir prisonersto
Bosto n. H ere. afterswea ringneveragaintofight
against th e Americans. rhcp risonerswere pur on
boardshipsandsentbacktoEnglan d.
Uenj ami nFrank lin. th e Americanambassado rto
France,w asdelightedw henhere ceivedt henew sof
thevicror vatSaratoga,l ieusedittopersuadethe
Fren ch gove rn menttoj o inin theStrug g leagainst
Britain.In Februar y 1 77~,th e Fren chk ing ,Louis
X Vl.signe dan alliance withtheA merican s,French
ships,so ld iersan dmoneywere soo n p laying all
impo rtantp artinthewar.
From 1 nHonwardsm ostofthe fighting ro o kplace
inth e southerncolonies .Itwasherethatthe war
cameto an end. InSept ember 178 1.George
Washington.leadin ga co m b inedAmericanand
Fren ch army.surrounded8,000Britishtro op su nder
Gl'neralCornwallisat Yorktown,0 11thecoasto f
Virginia,C o rn w allis wasworried. burh e expected
Bnrishsh ipstoarriveandrescueo r reinforcehi s
army, When shipsarrivedoffYorktown,however,
theywereFren chones.Com wnlliswastrap ped.
O nOctober 17, 1781, hesur rend eredhis ar myto
Washington.When th e newsreachedLo ndo n the
Brit is h Pr im eMlIlister .Lo rd No rth.th re wuphis
hand sin d espair...Itis allover!"h e cried.Northwasrigh t.T heBriti vh star redtowithdraw
(heir fo rcesfromAme rica and Brit ishan dAmerican
rep res ent ativesbeganto discusspeaceterms.Intill'
T reatyofParis.whichwassignedin September
1783,Britainofficially recognizedherformer
coloniesasan ind epe nd en tnatio n.T hetreatygranted
thenewU nite dStaresallofNorthAmericafrom
Canad a in th e no rth to Floridaillthesou th, and from
theAtlanticcoast torhcMississippiR iver
7 r iGlITINCf O ill r.:lllf'tN D EN C LTheMarquisdeLafayette
In 1777 the Marq u is deLafayett e,a rwc nt y- vcar-
o ld French aristocrat.landed in America.He carne
partlytofightfo ra new an dfreesociety, Bur he
ca mealsotoavengeth e d eath ofhisfath er. who
had died figh tingthe British in the Fre nchan d
Indian War.Lafayetteserved without Pay in (he American
arlllYandbecamea major-general on thesta ff o f
Geor ge Washing ton , In the n ext fouryears he
fo ugh tinnlJnybatt les. provmg himselfto beJ
b raveand dcrcrrnm ed soldier.H e wo n Washing-
to n 's respectandfnendship and playeda part in
the finaldefeatoftheBritish atYo rkt ownin1781.
Whenth e war endedLafayett ereturnedtoPrance.
There he co nt inuedto sup po rt Americaninterests.
Whl'll theFren ch revolution brok eo urin 1789,
poli tic al0PPOlll'lltS had Lafayetteimprisonedand
cookaw ay his estates. But LafJyeu l"sAmerican
friend sdi d not fo rget him. In 1 794 Congress
vot edhimhi s unclaimedg eneral'spayo f S24, 424.
Afewyearslaterit g rante dhim landinLouisiana.
In 1824 the no wagin gLafavenereturnedtov is it
the U nitedStares.The Ameri can peopleg reeted
h imJS a hero,J livin g symbol o f t he birt ho f their
nati on.31