Revolution 250: America’s Independence Story, 1763–1783

A handwritten letter signed by George Washington accepting the British surrender at Yorktown — the decisive moment at the end of the American Revolutionary War — goes on public display for the first time as the centrepiece of a major new exhibition at The National Archives in Kew.

Revolution 250: America’s Independence Story, 1763–1783 charts the emergence of the United States, from the aftermath of the Seven Years’ War to the Treaty of Paris. Drawing on The National Archives’ exceptional collections, it brings together the original Acts of Parliament that fuelled colonial unrest — including the Stamp Act and the Tea Act — alongside first-hand accounts of the Boston Tea Party and records of the first shots fired at Lexington and Concord.

At its heart is one of the Archives’ three Dunlap broadsides of the Declaration of Independence, printed overnight in Philadelphia on 4 July 1776 — this copy the first to reach Britain. Other highlights include the Olive Branch Petition, King George III’s Proclamation of Rebellion, the Dunmore Proclamation of 1775, Washington’s surrender letter of October 1781, the Treaty of Paris of 1783, and an early map of the new United States bearing one of the earliest depictions of the Stars and Stripes.

The exhibition also foregrounds voices often absent from familiar accounts — Indigenous peoples, Black Loyalists and enslaved individuals — drawing on lesser-known documents from the British side to reveal the global and human dimensions of the conflict.

Entry to The National Archives and its exhibitions is free. The nearest station is Kew Gardens (District line and London Overground).