Changes

The British were beating the Patriots badly in the South.  The British captured Charleston in 1780, taking 5,500 soldiers and huge amounts of weapons.  Finally, we installed General [[Nathanael Greene]], one of our best generals.  He started inflicting heavy casualties on the British, and they retreated from the Carolinas to Yorktown, VA.

The British were beating the Patriots badly in the South.  The British captured Charleston in 1780, taking 5,500 soldiers and huge amounts of weapons.  Finally, we installed General [[Nathanael Greene]], one of our best generals.  He started inflicting heavy casualties on the British, and they retreated from the Carolinas to Yorktown, VA.

In May 1781, French arrived with two fleets, and we trapped the British at Yorktown, Virginia.  They had to surrender their entire army of 8000.  But the British still held New York, and didn’t finally sign a peace treaty until February 1783.  They gave up east of the Mississippi, from Canada to Florida.  We promised to treat the Loyalists and English creditors (people owed money by colonists) fairly.  We didn’t.

In May 1781, French arrived with two fleets, and we trapped the British at Yorktown, Virginia.  They had to surrender their entire army of 8000.  But the British still held New York, and didn’t finally sign a peace treaty until February 1783.  They gave up east of the Mississippi, from Canada to Florida.  We promised to treat the Loyalists and English creditors (people owed money by colonists) fairly.  We didn’t always do that.  But there is blame to be shared on both sides of the issue:  in Gladstone, New Jersey, the "Union Jack" (British flag) can be seen prominently flown to this day on one residential lot along with the American flag.

== References ==

== References ==