This day in History. 1783 Treaty of Paris ends US War of Independence. The American Revolution comes to an official end with the signing of the Treaty of Paris by representatives of the United States, Great Britain, Spain, and France. American independence is recognized by the British and the boundaries of the new republic are agreed upon: Florida north to the Great Lakes, and the Atlantic coast west to the Mississippi River. On April 19, 1775, on a common green in Lexington, Massachusetts, American colonists had answered King George III's refusal of political and economic reform with "the shot heard around the world". On July 4, 1776, over a year after the first volleys of the war were fired, the Second Continental Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence. Five difficult years later, on October 19, 1781, British General Charles Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, bringing to an end the last major battle of the Revolution. Two years later, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris with Britain, the United States formally became a free and independent nation.