<P> In late December 1778, the British had captured Savannah . In 1780 they launched a fresh invasion and took Charleston as well . A significant victory at the Battle of Camden meant that the invaders soon controlled most of Georgia and South Carolina . The British set up a network of forts inland, hoping the Loyalists would rally to the flag . Not enough Loyalists turned out, however, and the British had to move out . They fought their way north into North Carolina and Virginia, with a severely weakened army . Behind them, much of the territory they left dissolved into a chaotic guerrilla war, as the bands of Loyalists, one by one, were overwhelmed by the patriots . </P> <P> The British army under Lord Cornwallis marched to Yorktown, Virginia where they expected to be rescued by a British fleet . When that fleet was defeated by a French fleet, however, they were trapped, and were surrounded by a much stronger force of Americans and French under Washington's command . On October 1781, Cornwallis surrendered . </P> <P> News of the defeat effectively ended the fighting in America, although the naval war continued . Support for the conflict had never been strong in Britain, where many sympathized with the rebels, but now it reached a new low . King George III personally wanted to fight on, but he lost control of Parliament, and had to agree to peace negotiations . </P> <P> Long negotiations resulted in the Treaty of Paris (1783), which provided highly favorable boundaries for the United States; it included nearly all land east of the Mississippi River and south of Canada, except British Florida, which was awarded to Spain . Encompassing a vast region nearly as large as Western Europe, the western territories contained a few thousand American pioneers and tens of thousands of Indians, most of whom had been allied to the British but were now abandoned by London . </P>

What defines the time of american history prior to 1776