Treaty of Paris (1783)

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The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3 1783, and ratified by the Congress of the Confederation on January 14, 1784, formally ended the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United States of America, which had rebelled against British rule starting in 1775. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of these see Peace of Paris (1783).

[edit] British recognition of American independence

As a result of the American victory at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781, the British Parliament forced British Prime minister Lord North to resign on March 20, 1782. Lord North’s successors did not believe that the war in America was in Britain’s best interests, so in April 1782, the British parliament decided no longer to use military force as a means to regain control of the thirteen colonies, but still did not recognize American independence. Shortly thereafter, the British government sent a diplomat to negotiate with the American ambassador in Rome, calling the ambassador the representative of the North American "colonies". Formerly, they had not acknowledged that he represented Americans. The American ambassador rejected his credentials because they did not authorize him to negotiate with representatives of "the United States of America". Parliament very quickly revised the credentials, but not before a debate about whether that amounted to recognition of independence or merely recognition of the name by which the Americans wished to be called. A decision was made on that question. It is possible that some members of Parliament intended to recognize American independence when they voted for revision of the credentials, and the Lord Chancellor said he considered that act of Parliament to amount to such recognition. "Preliminary articles of peace" signed in November 1782 stated that the British recognized American independence, but they were not to be effective until they were included in a final peace treaty.

[edit] The agreement

The treaty document was signed at the Hotel de York- now 56 Rue Jacob- by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay (representing the United States) and David Hartley (a member of the British Parliament representing the British Monarch, King George III). Hartley was lodging at the hotel, which was therefore chosen in preference to the nearby British Embassy- 44 Rue Jacob- as "neutral" ground for the signing.

On September 3, Britain also signed separate agreements with France, Spain, and the Netherlands, which had been negotiated earlier. In the treaty with Spain, Britain recognized Spanish rule over several territories seized by the Spaniards during the war: The colonies of East and West Florida were ceded to Spain (without any clearly defined northern boundary, resulting in disputed territory resolved with the Treaty of Madrid), and Spain also reclaimed the island of Minorca, while the Bahama Islands and St. Kitts were returned to Britain. The treaty with France largely reinforced earlier treaties, guaranteeing fishing rights off Newfoundland. Dutch possessions in Sumatra, captured in 1781, were returned by Britain to the Netherlands in exchange for trading privileges in the Dutch East Indies.

The American Continental Congress ratified the treaty on January 14, 1784, and copies were then sent back to Europe for ratification by the other parties involved, the first reaching France in March. British ratification occurred on April 9, 1784, and the ratified versions were exchanged in Paris on May 12, 1784. It was not for some time, though, that the Americans in the countryside received the news because of the lack of communication.

[edit] The ten Articles: key points

• Recognizing the 13 colonies as free and sovereign States [Article 1] ^[1];
• Establishing the boundaries between the United States and British North America [Article 2] (for an account of two strange anomalies resulting from this part of the Treaty, based on inaccuracies in the Mitchell Map, see Northwest Angle and the Republic of Indian Stream);
• Granting fishing rights to United States fishermen in the Grand Banks, off the coast of Newfoundland and in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence [Article 3];
• Recognizing the lawful contracted debts to be paid to creditors on either side [Article 4];
• The Congress of the Confederation will "earnestly recommend" to state legislatures to recognize the rightful owners of all confiscated lands "provide for the restitution of all estates,rights, and properties, which have been confiscated belonging to real British subjects [Loyalists]". [Article 5 - never implemented];
• United States will prevent future confiscations of the property of Loyalists [Article 6];
• Prisoners of war on both sides are to be released and all property left by the British army in the United States unmolested (including slaves) [Article 7];
• Great Britain and the United States were each to be given perpetual access to the Mississippi River [Article 8];
• Territories captured by Americans subsequent to treaty will be returned without compensation [Article 9];
• Ratification of the treaty was to occur within six months from the signing by the contracting parties [Article 10]
• Spain received Florida under the separate Anglo-Spanish agreement

[edit] Aftermath

Privileges which the Americans had received from Britain automatically when they had colonial status (including some surprising ones, such as protection from pirates in the Mediterranean Sea) were withdrawn. Individual States ignored Federal recommendations, under Article 5, to restore confiscated Loyalist property, and also evaded Article 6 (e.g. by confiscating Loyalist property for "unpaid debts"). Some, notably Virginia, also defied Article 4 and maintained laws against payment of debts to British creditors. Individual British soldiers ignored the provision of Article 7 about removal of slaves. The real geography of North America turned out not to match the details given in the Canadian boundary descriptions. The Treaty specified a southern boundary for the United States, but the separate Anglo-Spanish agreement did not specify a northern boundary for Florida, and the Spanish government assumed that the boundary was the same as in the 1763 agreement by which they had first given their territory in Florida to Britain. While that dispute continued, Spain used its new control of Florida to block American access to the Mississippi, in defiance of Article 8.^[2] In the Great Lakes area, the British adopted a very generous interpretation of the stipulation that they should relinquish control "with all convenient speed", because they needed time to negotiate with the First Nations, who had kept the area out of United States control, but had been completely ignored in the Treaty. Even after that was accomplished, Britain retained control as a bargaining counter in hopes of obtaining some recompense for the confiscated Loyalist property.^[3] This matter was finally settled by the Jay Treaty in 1794, and America's ability to bargain on all these points was greatly strengthened by the creation of the new constitution in 1787.

[edit] See also

• Other treaties signed in Paris
• List of treaties

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Text of the Treaty of Paris (without Delaware)
• Treaty of Paris, 1783 U.S. Department of State summary
• Treaty of Paris, 1783; International Treaties and Related Records, 1778-1974; General Records of the United States Government, Record Group 11; National Archives. (with Delaware)

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