The American Revolution began with the shot heard round the world at the battles of Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, at Lexington Green and Old North Bridge on April 19, 1775. The Continental Congress declared the colonies' independence from England by approving the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1976. British armies surrendered to American and French forces at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 19, 1781. The war for independence ended when Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris on January 14, 1784.