2016-09-03 Sat

The day of 4th July 1776 declared America free from the Great Britain and its Kings. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Continental Congress adopted the “Declaration of Independence” proclaiming the independence of the United States of America!

But the American War of Independence was far from over! The struggle for freedom and recognition went on for five more difficult years. Finally in October 1781, British General Charles Lord Cornwallis surrendered to American and French forces at Yorktown, Virginia, bringing to an end the last major battle of the American Revolution.

The official peace negotiation talks with the British started by September 1782. A committee of five American negotiators consisting of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay Thomas Jefferson and Henry Laurens was selected. Two crucial provisions of the talks were the British recognition of U.S. independence and the delineation of boundaries that would allow for American western expansion.

Finally the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, ending the war between the American colonies and Great Britain, and formally recognizing the United States as an independent nation! Britain agreed to remove all of its troops from the new nation. Among other agreements the treaty also set new borders for the United States, including all land from the Great Lakes on the north to Florida on the south, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. The United States agreed to allow British troops still in America to leave and also agreed to pay all existing debts owed to Great Britain. The United States also agreed not to persecute loyalists still in America and allow those that left America to return.

This historic document was signed in the Maryland Statehouse.

On September 2, 1983 a 20 cents commemorative stamp along with a FDC was issued by US Post to celebrate the bicentenary of this event. Further in 2000 the Republic of Liberia issued a 20 dollar .999 silver coin in a commemorative issue of History of America series.

For more information on the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence click here.