418 Ch. 1 1 • Dynastic Rivalries and Politics
Benjamin Franklin was a favorite of the French, a relationship that was representa
tive of the alliance between America and France against the British.
Dutch supplies, the British also fought the Dutch Republic. Britain con
fronted the refusal of Russia, Sweden, Prussia, Portugal, and Denmark to
curtail trade with the rebellious Americans.
Great Britain had overextended its capacity to wage war. Its naval advan
tage, the basis of its strength in modern times, had been eroded. Despite
swelling the army to 190,000 men, campaigns on land went badly. On
October 19, 1781, Lord Cornwallis surrendered his outnumbered army at
Yorktown, Virginia, to a combined force of American and French troops.
Britain officially recognized the independence of the American colonies by
signing the Treaty of Versailles in 1783.
Having lost its richest colony, Great Britain did not want to lose any oth
ers. In 1774, as the resistance in the thirteen colonies became more deter
mined, Parliament had passed the Quebec Act, in an effort to prevent
tensions between the British Anglican conquerors and the Catholic popula
tion of Quebec from boiling over. The Test Act, which required all officials to
take communion in the Anglican Church, was abolished in Quebec, and the
Catholic Church was given the status of an established church. The British
government also strengthened its control over its other colonies. The India
Act (1784) created a board responsible to Parliament to which the East India
Company had to report. Another parliamentary act in 1791 created more
centralized administration in Canada, with a governor-general exercising far
more authority than two colonial assemblies elected by restricted suffrage.