The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, recognizing the United States as independent.
Representatives of Great Britain and the United States signed the treaty in Paris on September 3, 1783. It formally ended the American Revolutionary War and acknowledged the former 13 colonies as free, sovereign, and independent states.
The American negotiating team included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and Henry Laurens. The treaty also established boundaries for the new nation, generally extending west to the Mississippi River, north to the Great Lakes, and south to Spanish Florida. It granted Americans fishing rights in waters near Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.
The year is often confused with other major milestones. The Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776, and the British surrender at Yorktown occurred in 1781, but neither event formally ended the war or secured British recognition of American independence. The treaty’s ratification was completed in 1784.