The Treaty of Paris recognizing United States independence took effect through ratification exchange on May 12, 1784.
The treaty had been signed in Paris on September 3, 1783, by American and British representatives. Signing created the agreement, but the treaty required ratification before it became fully effective. The Congress of the Confederation ratified it on January 14, 1784, and the British government completed its ratification later.
The ratified documents were exchanged in Paris on May 12, 1784. That exchange completed the formal diplomatic process between the two countries. The treaty’s first article recognized the United States as free, sovereign, and independent states, while later articles defined boundaries and addressed debts, Loyalist property, prisoners, and fishing rights.
The dates are easy to mix up because September 3 is the signing date and January 14 is the date Congress ratified the treaty. May 12 marks the final exchange of ratifications, not the battlefield victory that had made peace negotiations possible.