The Treaty of Paris officially ended the American Revolutionary War in 1783.
Representatives of the United States and Great Britain signed the treaty in Paris on September 3, 1783. The agreement recognized the United States as a free, sovereign, and independent nation. It also established boundaries that extended west to the Mississippi River, north toward the Great Lakes, and south to Spanish Florida.
American negotiators included Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay. The treaty followed the military surrender at Yorktown in 1781, but fighting and diplomatic negotiations continued until the peace agreement was completed. Britain’s formal recognition was a crucial international milestone for the new republic.
The Treaty of Paris is distinct from the 1763 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Seven Years’ War, and the 1783 peace agreements involving Britain and other European powers. In the America250 story, it marks the diplomatic conclusion of the war that followed the declaration of independence.