ON THIS DAY IN UNITED STATES HISTORY

November 25, 1783

The British Evacuate New York after
the American Revolutionary War

On this day in 1783, the British evacuated New York at the end of the American Revolutionary War. The war formally ended when the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3rd of that year. Sir Guy Carlton received the orders to evacuate in mid-August and began the evacuation procedures, however progress was slow due to the thousands of Loyalist refugees and former slaves that had gathered in the city to be evacuated along with the military personnel.

The British had held New York since George Washington and the Americans had retreated to Manhattan Island on August 25, 1776. During most of the war, New York was used by the British as the political and military center of operations.