Old Maryland Senate Chamber Restoration Nearly Finished

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- The restoration of the room where George Washington resigned his military commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army is nearly finished in the Maryland State House.

Gov. Martin O'Malley led a media tour of the Old Senate Chamber on Friday. The restoration work is expected to be finished next month.

Washington's decision to resign his commission in 1783 set the precedent in American history for establishing military subservience to civil authority.

In 2007, the state acquired Washington's handwritten speech. Plans call for putting it on display.

The Treaty of Paris, which officially ended the Revolutionary War, was ratified in the chamber on Jan. 14, 1784.

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