The United States and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783, formally ending the American Revolutionary War.
The treaty recognized the United States as free, sovereign, and independent. American negotiators Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Jay, and Henry Laurens represented the new nation, while David Hartley signed for Great Britain on behalf of King George III.
The British defeat at Yorktown in October 1781 led to peace negotiations, but military victory and diplomatic conclusion were different events. The Treaty of Paris established the legal settlement and defined U.S. territory, including lands east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes.
The treaty was ratified by the Confederation Congress on January 14, 1784. November 25, 1783, known as Evacuation Day, marks the British evacuation of New York City, not the treaty's signing.