The United States could not have won its independence without the assistance of France and Spain, particularly because their combined naval power was always a threat to Britain’s trade and colonies around the world. After its defeat in the land phase of the war in North America, the fighting continued for the next two years, and the U.S. peace negotiators used the opportunity presented by Britain’s war weariness and desire to retain as much of its overseas empire as possible to extract highly favorable trade and territorial concessions.
Although Gen. Cornwallis had surrendered at Yorktown, the British army ...
