USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Battle of Yorktown proved to be the decisive engagement of the American Revolution. The British surrender forecast the end of British rule in the colonies and the birth of a new nation-the United States of America.

Detailed explanation-2: -Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown effectively ended the Revolutionary War. Lacking the financial resources to raise a new army, the British government appealed to the Americans for peace. Almost two years later, on September 3, 1783, the signing of the Treaty of Paris brought the war to an end.

Detailed explanation-3: -After three weeks of non-stop bombardment, both day and night, from artillery, Cornwallis surrendered to Washington in the field at Yorktown on October 17, 1781, effectively ending the War for Independence. Pleading illness, Cornwallis did not attend the formal surrender ceremony, held on October 19.

Detailed explanation-4: -The defeat at Yorktown caused a change in the British government. Prime Minister Lord North and the Tory party were ousted, and the Whigs, under Rockingham, assumed power. This new government opened negotiations with the American commissioners in Paris.

Detailed explanation-5: -While Yorktown is most significant for the Revolutionary War siege of 1781, which effectively ended the conflict, during the American Civil War was again the site of major siege operations during the Peninsula Campaign of 1862.