For America’s 250th anniversary, which treaty formally ended the American Revolutionary War?

The Treaty of Paris formally ended the American Revolutionary War in 1783.

The agreement was signed in Paris on September 3, 1783, by representatives of the United States and Great Britain. Britain recognized the United States as an independent nation and accepted its boundaries, which extended west to the Mississippi River, north to the Great Lakes, and south to Spanish Florida. The treaty also addressed debts, prisoners, property, and fishing rights.

The American negotiating team included Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Jay, and Henry Laurens. The diplomats reached a preliminary agreement in 1782, but the final treaty required approval and formal exchange. Spain, France, and the Netherlands had separate peace arrangements connected with the wider conflict.

Fighting had largely stopped after the British surrender at Yorktown in October 1781, but the war did not legally conclude then. The Treaty of Paris supplied the formal international recognition that transformed the former colonies into the United States.