The Saber and Scroll
bit longer , but King George III finally conceded independence for the Thirteen Colonies . The war was essentially over . When the news reached General Washington , he announced a cessation of hostilities . The Treaty of Paris of 1783 was ratified shortly after .
Washington made the announcement at the Temple of Virtue on April 19 , 1783 , exactly eight years to the day of the Battles of Lexington and Concord , which began the Revolutionary War . Once the army heard the news , they erupted in cheers . Although they had not been paid , and they would not be for quite some time , they just wanted to leave the encampment and go home . This left Washington with one last task to complete .
On December 23 , 1783 , Washington arrived at the Maryland statehouse in Annapolis to meet with the Continental Congress after the legislative body temporarily relocated there in the late fall of 1783 . Washington acknowledged the many sacrifices and professionalism of the Continental Army , then returned to the Congress what they gave to him in June of 1775 : his commission as commander-in-chief . In a very brief , but somber ceremony , General George Washington returned command of the Continental Army to the Congress , setting the precedent ( which still stands today ) that the US military is subordinate to civilian authority . Washington arrived home at Mount Vernon on Christmas Eve , 1783 thinking that his time in public service was over , not knowing what truly lied ahead .
This does not suggest that the Continental Army was plotting to overthrow the Continental Congress in March of 1783 . Nevertheless , if the army had taken up arms or marched against the Congress as a means of protest , the separation that stands in our republic between the military and civilian government would have been shattered and could never have been put back together . It can be difficult to understand why some revolutions fail while others succeed , but history is clear as to why the American Revolution was successful : the leadership of George Washington .
Bibliography
Browne , Stephen Howard . “ Origins and Development of the Newburgh Crisis .” In The Ides of War : George Washington and the Newburgh Crisis . Edited by Stephen Howard Browne , 43 – 68 . Columbia , South Carolina : University of South Carolina Press , 2016 .
Fowler , Jr ., William M . American Crisis and the Dangerous Two Years After Yorktown . New York : Walker Publishing Company , 2011 .
88