The Battle of Yorktown was a major turning point in the Revolutionary War and led to the creation of the United States of America. After six grueling years of war the end of the war was near. Six months earlier the Continental Army's morale was at its lowest point of the war. Congress went bankrupt due to rampant inflation caused by the mass production of Continental dollars. The Continental Army was being defeated in the South by the English who had reconquered South Carolina and Georgia. Many men in the Continental Army were also mutinying. However, in July 1780 a French force landed in Newport, Rhode Island, and this greatly increased American morale (Fleming 11-13). Russia had suggested peace negotiations between the Americans and the British, however the Americans were confident that they would not be granted freedom or unity as thirteen colonies. If they had entered into peace negotiations without new major victories, even if they had gained freedom they would not have been unified and would have been quickly recaptured by the English. Washington planned to achieve a major victory by retaking New York from the British. He had sent the Marquis de Lafayette to counter the British invasion of Virginia and sent him a message regarding his plans towards New York, however the message was captured by the British and the plans were discovered (Fleming 14–16). General Rochambeau dissuaded Washington from attacking New York and convinced him to attack Cornwallis instead. Cornwallis had given up his campaign in Carolina because he had been defeated by Daniel Morgan at the Battle of Cowpens and had won a Pyrrhic victory against Nathaniel Greene at the Battle of Guilford Court House and had decided to... newspaper......" The Bank Launches the Battle of Yorktown: Havana Gold and Silver Allowed American Troops to Trap Lord Cornwallis and His Army." http://go.galegroup.com/. GALE and Web. December 3, 2013. "Siege of Yorktown." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, December 14, 2013. Web. December 3, 2013. Weber, Michael. “THE BATTLE OF YORKTOWN: THE CLIMAX OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.” http://web.ebscohost.com/. EBSCOhost and Web. December 3. 2013. .