Changes

Despite the alliance with the French and the northern victories by the Patriots (Americans), the British were still beating the Patriots badly in the South.  The British captured Charleston in 1780, taking 5,500 soldiers and huge amounts of weapons.  Finally, the Patriots installed General [[Nathanael Greene]], one of the revolution's best generals.  He started inflicting heavy casualties on the British, and they retreated from the Carolinas to Yorktown, Virginia.  A remarkable French General, Marquis de Lafayette, gave much of his personal fortune to support the colonies in this Revolution, and he led French soldiers in siding with the Americans.

Despite the alliance with the French and the northern victories by the Patriots (Americans), the British were still beating the Patriots badly in the South.  The British captured Charleston in 1780, taking 5,500 soldiers and huge amounts of weapons.  Finally, the Patriots installed General [[Nathanael Greene]], one of the revolution's best generals.  He started inflicting heavy casualties on the British, and they retreated from the Carolinas to Yorktown, Virginia.  A remarkable French General, Marquis de Lafayette, gave much of his personal fortune to support the colonies in this Revolution, and he led French soldiers in siding with the Americans.

===Battle of Yorktown===

===Battle of Yorktown===

In May 1781, two fleets of French soldiers helped trap the British at Yorktown, Virginia.  Known as the Battle of Yorktown, General George Washington won this battle and the war through brilliant military strategy as he trapped the entire British army of 8,000 and forced them to surrender.  This decided the outcome of the war in favor of the Americans.  The British still held New York, and did not finally sign a peace treaty until February 1783, the Treaty of Paris.  In it the British gave up their claim to land east of the Mississippi, from Canada to Florida.  The Americans promised to treat fairly the Loyalists (colonists loyal to the King) and English creditors (people owed money by colonists).  Some people on both sides refused to abide by the treaty, and loyalty to England continues to run deep to this day in some American families.

In May 1781, two fleets of French soldiers helped trap the British at Yorktown, Virginia.  Known as the Battle of Yorktown, General George Washington won this battle and the war through brilliant military strategy as he trapped the entire British army of 8,000 and forced them to surrender.  This decided the outcome of the war in favor of the Americans.  The British still held New York, and did not finally sign a peace treaty until February 1783, the Treaty of Paris, which Benjamin Franklin helped negotiate.  In it the British gave up their claim to land east of the Mississippi, from Canada to Florida.  The Americans promised to treat fairly the Loyalists (colonists loyal to the King) and English creditors (people owed money by colonists).  Some people on both sides refused to abide by the treaty, and loyalty to England continues to run deep to this day in some American families.

== References ==

== References ==