End of the Revolution

The combined forces of France and Britain at victory of the Americans at Yorktown and the surrender of the British General Cornwallis, the six year old revolution came to an end with the Treaty of Paris in France on September 3, 1783 and the colonies became free from the domination of Britain. .It also recognized and established the boundaries between the United States and British North America and gave exclusive fishing rights to the United States in the Grand Bank Area and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Besides these, the prisoners of war were let free and the lands confiscated by the British were released. Furthermore, the Mississippi river was left to both Great Britain and the United States.

Constitutional Government for the United States

After the war, the American people were divided about the kind of government that would rule the country. Few loyalists supported the rule of the British Crown, while the others were favored autonomy that would secure life, liberty and pursuit of happiness that was ordained in the Declaration of Independence. In May 1787, at the Philadelphia Convention, delegates decided to devise a stronger government for the United States. The convention consisted of great men of America, viz Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Robert Morris, Gouverneur Morris, John Dickinson, James Wilson, Roger Sherman, Oliver Ellsworth, Charles Pinckney and Edmund Randolph. The convention agreed on the following

• A new Constitution to take the place of the Articles of the Confederation
• The new government would have three different departments namely a legislature, an executive and a judiciary
• Large states must have more representation in the new government
• The Congress must be vested with the powers to tax, foreign affairs, and power to spend on defense and general welfare
• Debts of the Confederation to be cleared by the new government
• Restrictions on state governments

Later, the new Constitution was adopted and on April 30, 1788, George Washington became the Chief Executive of the United States.