The Treaty of Paris formally ended the American Revolutionary War on September 3, 1783.
Representatives of Great Britain and the United States signed the treaty in Paris. Britain recognized the United States as free, sovereign, and independent, confirming the political result announced in the Declaration of Independence seven years earlier.
The agreement also set broad boundaries for the new nation, including territory east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes region. It addressed fishing rights, property, debts, prisoners, and the treatment of Loyalists. The boundaries and other provisions later changed through additional treaties and conflicts.
The treaty date is sometimes confused with October 19, 1781, when the British surrender at Yorktown ended major combat, or January 14, 1784, when the Confederation Congress ratified the treaty. The diplomatic settlement, rather than the battlefield surrender, formally ended the war.