ON THIS DAY ·
British surrender at Yorktown
Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown as the band plays “The World Turned Upside Down.” The American war is effectively over.
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The moment in context
The fighting opened around Boston and immediately revealed the pattern that would decide the war. British troops sent to seize colonial military stores met local militia at Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775 and suffered heavily on their retreat. Washington’s problem followed directly, because Britain could capture cities while the Continental Army could not risk destruction in one decisive battle, so keeping that army in existence was what kept Congress and foreign hopes alive.
From American Revolutionary War, chapter 2 of The Age of Revolutions, 1775–1848 (SEP 1783).
Teach this in 5 minutes
- Why it happened — Distance as a weapon. Britain had to project force 3,000 miles by sail — three months for an order and its answer. The rebels didn’t need to win; they needed to not lose…
- The turn — Saratoga, 17 October 1777. A plan drawn in London — three columns converging on Albany — dissolved in American woods: Howe went to Philadelphia instead, and Burgoyne, cut off,…
- What it changed — A constitution that exports. The state constitutions, then the federal one of 1787 — written, ratified, amendable — turn Enlightenment theory into working precedent. Every…
Then ask the room: Britain had the world’s best navy, deepest purse and most professional army. Make the case that it could never have won. The argued answer is on the chapter page →
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