The Treaty of Paris

The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the United States of America and its allies. The terms of the Treaty of Paris greatly enlarged the boundaries of the United States, enabling the young nation to rapidly become a major international trading partner. The treaty was signed at the Hotel d’York by U.S. representatives John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, as well as David Hartley, a member of the British Parliament who represented King George III in negotiations. The treaty was made up of 10 articles that addressed territorial rights, treatment of Loyalists, and rights to bodies of water, property, and debt. The American Congress of the Confederation ratified the Treaty of Paris on January 14, 1784 and copies were sent back to Europe for ratification by all other parties, reaching the French first in March. The British ratified the treaty on April 9, 1784.

Treaty Terms

The 10 articles of the Treaty of Paris are as follows. Of these articles, only the first remains in effect to the present day.

1. Acknowledgment that the United States is free, sovereign, and independent, and the the British Crown, including all heirs and successors, relinquish claims to the government as well as proprietary and territorial rights of the same and every part thereof.
2. Establishment of the boundaries between the U.S. and British North America.
3. Granting of fishing rights to U.S. fishermen in the Grand Banks, off the coast of Newfoundland, and in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
4. Recognition of lawful contracted debts to be paid to creditors on either side.
5. Duty of the Congress of the Confederation to “earnestly recommend” to state legislatures recognition of the rightful owners of all confiscated lands and provisions for “restitution of all estates, rights, and properties, which have been confiscated belonging to real British subjects” (i.e., Loyalists).
6. Prevention of future confiscations of Loyalist property by the U.S.
7. Release of prisoners of war on either side, and for all property left in the U.S. by the British government to be left unmolested, including slaves.
8. Perpetual access rights to the Mississippi River by both Great Britain and the U.S.
9. Return of territories captured by the U.S. during the war without compensation.
10. Ratification of the treaty within six months of signing by contracting parties.

Other Territorial Cessions and Gains

On September 3, Britain signed separate agreements with France and Spain and, provisionally, with the Netherlands. The territories of East and West Florida were ceded to Spain, as was the Mediterranean island of Minorca. Meanwhile, the Bahama Islands, Grenada, and Montserrat, captured by the French and Spanish, were returned to Britain.

The treaty with France primarily focused on exchanges of captured territory, but also reinforced earlier treaties guaranteeing French fishing rights off the coast of Newfoundland. France's only territorial gains were the island of Tobago and Senegal in West Africa. Dutch possessions in the East Indies, captured by the British in 1781, were returned by Britain in exchange for trading privileges in that region.

In the Great Lakes region, the British adopted a very generous interpretation of the stipulation that they should relinquish control "with all convenient speed". The British argued that they needed time to negotiate with the American Indians, who had defended the region from the United States but had been utterly ignored in the Treaty. Even after these negotiations were concluded, Britain retained control of the region as leverage in order to gain recompense for confiscated Loyalist property. 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 a new constitution in 1787.

Violations

Several of the articles of the Treaty of Paris were violated by all sides in the chaotic aftermath of the war. Individual states ignored federal recommendations to restore confiscated Loyalist property, as required by Article 5 of the Treaty, and also continued the practice of confiscating Loyalist property for "unpaid debts", in violation of Article 6. Some, notably the state of Virginia, also maintained laws against payment of debts to British creditors, defying Article 4. Individual British soldiers ignored the provision of Article 7, which required them to abandon their property in the United States, particularly in respect to their relinquishment of slaves.

The treaty between Spain and Great Britain did not establish any clearly defined northern boundary to Spanish-controlled Florida. Spain used its control of Florida to block American access to the Mississippi in defiance of Article 8 of the Treaty of Paris. The resulting territory dispute between Spain and the United States was resolved with the Treaty of Madrid, or Pinckney's Treaty, in 1795.

Treaty of Paris

Benjamin West's painting of the delegations at the Treaty of Paris: John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, and William Temple Franklin. The British delegation refused to pose, and the painting was never completed.