Great Britain cedes generally, all mainland territories east of the Mississippi River , south of the Great Lakes , and north of the Floridas to the United States. Great Britain. The war ended with the Treaty of Paris , which resulted in Great Britain ultimately recognizing the independence of the United States of America. The resulting British military occupation led to the Boston Massacre in Among further tensions, the British Parliament imposed the Intolerable Acts in mid A British attempt to disarm the Americans and the resulting Battles of Lexington and Concord in April ignited the war.
The British Parliament declared the colonies to be in a state of rebellion in August The stakes of the war were formalized with passage of the Lee Resolution by the Congress in Philadelphia on July 2, , and the unanimous ratification of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, Howe captured New York City in November. Washington responded by clandestinely crossing the Delaware River and winning small but significant victories at Trenton and Princeton.
In the summer of , as Howe was poised to capture Philadelphia , the Continental Congress fled to Baltimore. In October , a separate northern British force under the command of John Burgoyne was forced to surrender at Saratoga in an American victory that proved crucial in convincing France and Spain that an independent United States was a viable possibility.
France signed a commercial agreement with the rebels, followed by a Treaty of Alliance in February In , the Sullivan Expedition undertook a scorched earth campaign against the Iroquois who were largely allied with the British.
Indian raids on the American frontier, however, continued to be a problem. Howe's replacement Henry Clinton intended to take the war against the Americans into the Southern Colonies. Cornwallis was forced to surrender in October. The British wars with France and Spain continued for another two years, but fighting largely ceased in North America.
