The Revolt of Pontiac and the American Invasion

The British Lose the War

Caption: View Multimedia - Changing Boundaries

At the end of 1782 the British armies in North America remained in only a few places to the south of Canada: New York, Charleston, South Carolina, and eastern Florida. The Americans and Spanish held the rest of the territory east of the Mississippi. Elsewhere in the world, the British position was far from enviable. With little hope of being able to improve their military position, they began peace talks. On January 20, 1783, an armistice was proclaimed following the signing of preliminary agreements which were to be formally ratified by the Treaty of Versailles the following September 3. Outside of North America, there were no geographical changes except for ceding a few British islands in the West Indies to the French and Minorca to the Spanish. In North America, however, there were major changes. England recognized the independence of its thirteen former colonies, which became the United States of America. The Spanish took Florida and kept all the land taken from the British on the Gulf of Mexico. Even the islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon became French once again. Great Britain thus lost all of its North American empire to the south of Canada.