A letter signed by George Washington accepting British surrender marking the beginning of the end of the American Revolutionary War has gone on display for the first time in London.
The document, written in October 1781 after the British defeat at Yorktown, Virginia, is being exhibited as part of Revolution 250: America’s Independence Story, 1763–1783 at The National Archives in Kew.
The letter set in motion the negotiations that led to the 1783 Treaty of Paris, when Britain formally recognised the independence of the United States.
Given to British Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis, the letter was taken to his home at Audley End in Essex after the war and remained in the family archive until it was presented to the Public Record Office in 1880.
Dr Sean Cunningham, curator of Revolution 250, said: “For such a short, succinct, and to the point message, this note had tremendous consequences for generations to come.
“This is the moment the British realised they would have to give up the 13 colonies that would become the United States of America; the moment that Britain finally accepts the reality of the declaration of independence drafted five years earlier.
“Seeing Washington’s acceptance of British surrender up close is a powerful encounter with a turning point in history.
“But alongside it, we’re bringing forward voices and perspectives that challenge familiar narratives and show how deeply contested – and consequential – this conflict really was.”
The exhibition will trace the birth of the United States through documents from both sides of the Atlantic.
Highlights include the Stamp Act and the Tea Act, which fuelled unrest in the American colonies, as well as accounts of the Boston Tea Party protest and a copy of the Declaration of Independence.
